DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION 



OF THE 

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 

WITH 

THE ORIGINAL NARRATIVES OF MARQUETTE, 
ALLOUEZ, MEMBRE, HENNEPIN, AND 
ANASTASE DOUAY 

BY 

JOHN GILMARY SHEA 
SECOND EDITION 

WITH A FACSIMILE OF THE NEWLY-DISCOVERED MAP OF MARQUETTE, 
OF MARQUETTE'S LETTER, AND A STEEL PORTRAIT OF LA SALLE 




ALBANY 

joseph Mcdonough 

1903 



FIVE HUNDRED COPIES 

PRINTED FROM TYPE FOR 

joseph Mcdonough 

Albany, N. Y. 
1903 




Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852 
By J. S. REDFIELD 
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States in and for the 
Southern District of New York 



JARED SPARKS, LL. D. 



PRESIDENT OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY 



THIS VOLUME IN INSCRIBED 



AS A MARK OF PERSONAL REGARD 



By the Author 



PREFACE 



It has long been a desideratum to have in English the 
early narratives of the discovery and exploration of the Mis- 
sissippi. Marquette's map and voyage have indeed appeared, 
but the narrative varies in no small degree from the authentic 
manuscript, and the map is not at all a copy of that still pre- 
served, as it came from the hand of the great explorer. 
These published from original manuscripts, and accompanied 
by the narratives of the missionaries in La Salle's expedition, 
are now first presented in an accessible shape, and complete 
the annals of the exploration. 

The life of Marquette, and the history of the exploration 
itself, are the result of many years study of the early Spanish 
and French authorities, both printed and manuscript, some of 
which have never before been consulted. 

Besides my own researches, I have been aided by those of 
the President of St. Mary's College, and of the Hon. James 
Viger, of Montreal, and I trust that the volume will be found 
to be as faithful as the subject is interesting. 

New York, Sept., 1852. J. G. S. 



CONTENTS 



History of the Discovery of the Mississippi Valley page vii 

Life of Father James Marquette, of the Society of Jesus, first 

explorer of the Mississippi xli 

Notice on the sieur Jolliet lxxix 

Notice on Father Claudius Dablon 2 

Voyages and Discoveries of Father James Marquette, of the 

Society of Jesus, in 1673, and the following years 3 

Notice on Father Claude Allouez 70 

Narrative of a Voyage made to the Illinois, by Father Claude 

Allouez 70 

Bibliographical Notice of the Etablissement de la Foi of Father 

Christian le Clercq, Recollect 82 

Narrative of La Salle's first attempt to explore the Mississippi by 

Father le Clercq 87 

Bibliographical Notice of the Works of Father Louis Hennepin. . 102 
Narrative of a Voyage to the Upper Mississippi, by Father Louis 

Hennepin Ill 

Notice on Father Zenobius Membre 151 

Narrative of the Adventures of La Salle's Party, from February, 

1680, to June, 1681, by Father Membre 151 

Narrative of La Salle's Voyage down the Mississippi by the same 169 
Account of La Salle's Attempt to reach the Mississippi, by sea, 

by Father Christian le Clercq 189 

Narrative of La Salle's Attempt to ascend the Mississippi, in 1687, 

by Father Anastasius Douay 201 

Spanish account of the Destruction of La Salle's Fort in Texas. . 212 

Appendix 

Recit des Voyages et des decouvertes du P. Jacques Marquette, 

&c 235 

Unfinished Letter of Father James Marquette, containing his 

last Journal 259 

La Salle's Patent of Nobility 265 

La Salle's Second Commission 267 

Comparative Table of the names on the Map published by 

Thevenot, and Marquette's real Map 268 




HISTORY 



OF THB 



DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 



N glancing at a map of America, we are at once struck 



by the mighty river Mississippi, which, with its count- 
less branches, gathers the waters of an immense valley, and 
rolls its accumulated floods to the gulf of Mexico, affording 
a line of uninterrupted communication for thousands of 
miles, which has in our day peopled its banks with flourish- 
ing towns and cities. So large a stream, so important a 
means of entering the heart of the continent, could not, it 
would be supposed, long remain unknown — or, known, re- 
main unappreciated : yet so, in fact, it was. 

Columbus himself entered the gulf of Mexico, but the 
southern coast only was explored by the discoverer of the 
New World. By whom the northern shore was first ex- 
plored we do not know; but it is laid down with considera- 
ble accuracy in an edition of Ptolemy printed at Venice in 
1513. The map is the more remarkable as the delta of a river 
corresponding to the Mississippi is traced upon it more dis- 
tinctly than in the maps of the next century. Several adven- 
turers now sailed along the northern or Florida shore, till 
it was completely examined by Garay in 15 18. Three years 




2 



viii HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY 

later a map was drawn up by the arbitrator appointed to 
decide between the claims of rival discoverers, and on it we 
find the Mississippi again traced on the part assigned as 
peculiarly Garay's, and on it the name it subsequently bore, 
Rio del Espiritu Santo, or River of the Holy Ghost.* 

Several expeditions were now fitted out to explore and 
reduce the realms of Florida. Brilliant, daring, and adven- 
turous attempts they were, and give the time that hue of 
chivalry which almost makes us forget the crimes which 
marked it — crimes, magnified and distorted indeed by for- 
eign writers, but still, coolly and dispassionately examined 
crimes that we must condemn. f It was the last age of the 

* These facts and the maps are to be found in an English version of 
the Shipwrecks of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, printed for private 
distribution at Washington, in 185 1, for Geo. W. Riggs, jr. The trans- 
lator is Mr. Buckingham Smith. 

t It is not so much the cruelty here as the wantonness of it that 
shocks our modern taste. That was an age of cruelty. The Spaniard, 
from his long guerilla wars with the early Moors, was necessarily a man 
used to blood : and when the Reformation came, and the new religion- 
ists sprang at the rich plunder of the churches, those who adhered to old 
ideas clung to them with desperation ; and when deprived of them, un- 
able to retaliate on the church property of their antagonists who had 
none, vented their rage on their spoilers themselves. In countries where 
the advocates of the new ideas had not entered, the example of what 
had occurred elsewhere taught the old-idea party to prevent their en- 
trance at all hazard, if they wished to worship at the shrines raised by 
their ancestors. Had they been angels, they might have been mild ; but 
they were men, and necessarily cruel, and the retaliations were so too. 
The sixteenth century, then, is marked by constant scenes of blood, not 
only in America, but in Europe, and only bigots would attempt to repre- 
sent any one case as isolated and build a theory on it. In this age, and 
from this very cruelty, the English and French navies rose ; both were 
in their origin piratical flotillas, which lived by plundering the Spanish 
main and the rich argosies which were crossing to Cadiz. Even these 
bore a religious appearance, for the mariners, not only of England but 
of France, at the time professed a horror of the religion of the Spaniard, 
equalled only by their love for his gold. In fact, it is not easy to ex- 
press now all that a Spaniard, on terra firma or the Spanish main, com- 
prised in that fearful word "herege." 



OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 



ix 



political freedom, of the nicely-poised balance between the 
ruler and thle ruled. Not yet had the world been startled by 
the extremes of a claim of divine right in the person of the 
monarch, and annual revolutions in the name of the people. 
The Spaniard was the freest man in Europe: the various 
powers of the state, still unbroken, maintained on each other 
that salutary check which prevents all tyranny. The time 
was yet when the tutor of the heir-apparent of the Spanish 
crown could inculcate on his pupil the doctrine that a tyrant 
might be put to death; while, at the same time, the people 
were taught that religion required their obedience to the 
ruling powers, with submission and support from which 
only extreme cases could absolve them.* 

Besides this, " many circumstances concurred at this epoch 
of overwrought excitement, violence, and a mania for dis- 
covery by land and sea, to favor individuality of character, 
and enable some highly-gifted mind to develop noble germs 
drawn from the depth of feeling. They err," says Hum- 
boldt, " who believe that the Spanish adventurers were in- 
cited by mere love of gold and religious fanaticism. Perils 
always exalt the poetry of life; and besides, this remarkable 
age, unfolding as it did new worlds to men, gave every enter- 
prise and the natural impressions awakened by distant trav- 
els, the charm of novelty and surprise." 

Leon, Cordova, and Ayllon, had successively found death 
on the shores of Florida; but the spirit of the age was not 
damped: in 1528, Pamphilus de Narvaez undertook to con- 
quer and colonize the whole northern coast of the gulf. He 
landed, and, after long and fruitless marches, returned to 
the coast, and in wretched boats endeavored to reach Tam- 
pico. Almost all perished: storms, disease, and famine, 

* Mariana's De Rege Tyranno was written for a Spanish prince. 



X 



HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY 



swept them away, and the coast was whitened with their 
bleaching bones. A few with Cabeza de Vaca were thrown 
on an island on the coast of Mississippi. After four years' 
slavery, De Vaca escaped and struck inland with four com- 
panions. Taken for supernatural beings, they became the 
medicine-men of the tribes through which they passed, and, 
with as little difficulty as the Indian jugglers, established 
their reputation. With lives thus guarded by superstitious 
awe, they rambled across the gulf of California, traversing 
the bison-plains and the adobe towns of the half-civilized 
natives of New Mexico, perched on their rocky heights. 
De Vaca is the first known to have traversed our territory 
from sea to sea. In this long wandering, he must have 
reached and crossed the Mississippi ; but we in vain examine 
his narrative for something to distinguish it from any other 
large river that he met. He remains then in history, in a 
distant twilight, as the first European known to have stood 
on the banks of the Mississippi, and to have launched his 
boat upon its waters; but his "shipwrecks" shed no new 
light on its history.* 

When he and his companions suddenly appeared amid 
their countrymen in Mexico, their strange accounts, and an 
air of mysterious secresy which they affected, gave a new 
impulse to the adventurous spirit of the age. In the spring 
of 1539, two attempts were made to reach the realm in the 
interior, which De Vaca had protested to be "the richest 
country in the world." One of these expeditions started 
from the Pacific, the other from the Atlantic. The former 
was led by the Franciscan friar Mark, a native of Nice in 
Italy, who, burning with a desire of conquering for Christ 
the many tribes within, set out with a negro companion of 

* De Vaca's narrative in Spanish is in Barcia's collection, and in 
French in that of Ternaux-Compans. 



OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 



xi 



De Vaca's from Culiacan, and crossing the desert wastes, 
reached the Colorado; but after gazing from a command- 
ing height on the embattled towers of Cibola, with its houses 
rising story above story, and its gateways so well glazed 
that they seemed masses of turquoise, returned with baffled 
hopes, for the natives had refused him entrance, and actually 
cut off his negro guide and a large party of friendly Indians. 
Friar Mark, on his return, raised the hopes of the Spanish 
authorities still higher, and his statements, apparently true 
in themselves, were so understood by the excited imagina- 
tions of all, as to leave impressions far from the reality, 
An ideal kingdom rose into existence, and a new expedition 
was projected. This reached the valley of the Mississippi; 
but before we trace its course, we must go back to the Atlan- 
tic expedition of 1539.* 

It was commanded by the successful Ferdinand de Soto, 
who had risen by the conquest of Peru to rank and wealth, 
and was now governor of the rich island of Cuba. With a 
force far superior to any that had yet landed on the conti- 
nent, he entered Florida, and, with his gallant array, struck 
into the unknown interior. The Mississippi, under the name 
of Espiritu Santo, was not unknown to him ; for, after pro- 
ceeding westward and turning slightly northeast to Hurri- 
pacuxi — after striking westward to Eteocale, whose heroes 
wore (the natives said) helmets of burnished gold — after 
carrying, by stubborn fight, the gallant town of Napetuca — 
after pressing on through Ivetachuco, fired like another Mos- 
cow by its dauntless people — after reaching Anaica Apa- 
lache, — he sent Maldonado back to Havana, with orders to 
meet him in six months at the mouth of the Mississippi. t 

* The narrative of Friar Mark is in the Appendix to the Narrative 
of Castanedo de Najera, published by Ternaux. It deserves to be read, 
for it is not so much a fiction as is generally supposed. 

t Historical Coll. of Louisiana, vol. ii., p. 99. 



xii HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY 

Here began his second campaign; lured by the glittering 
promises of an Indian guide, he marched to the northeast, 
crossing the Altamaha, and perhaps entered the territory of 
Carolina, a land full of remembrances of Ayllon. Weary 
with a march of twelve hundred miles, his men were fain to 
settle there; but no, on they must go, and turning north- 
ward, he traversed unconsciously the golden sands of the 
Chalaques, with a heavy heart, for it was poor in maize. 
At last he reached a great river by the western course, and 
with his mind still full of great hopes from the river of 
Espiritu Santo, he took the Coosa for the Mississippi, and 
traced it to its source,* then following down its gentle cur- 
rent, crossing as villages invited him, he reached Mavila to 
waste the lives and property of his men in a terrible contest 
with the gigantic Tuscalosa, the chieftain of the land. Here 
any but the resolute Soto would have renounced his schemes, 
and joined his vessels in Pensacola bay; but no, though 
winter was coming on, he marched north, fighting his way 
^across river after river to the heart of the Chickasaw coun- 
try, and wintered there, although they, too, burned their 
village in which the invaders were quartered; thence he 
marched northwest to the country of the Alibamons, who 
threw up a palisade entrenchment to prevent his passage. 
With considerable loss De Soto carried it, and captured corn 
enough to carry him across the desert land to Quizquiz, and 
here at last he really came to the long-sought Rio del Espiritu 
Santo. It was the Mississippi. Here all doubt vanishes. 
Listen to the characteristic description of the most detailed 
narrative. "The river," says the unknown Portuguese, "was 
almost half a league broad ; if a man stood still on the other 
side, it could not be discerned whether he was a man or no. 



* Historical Coll. of Louisiana, vol. ii., p. 101. 



OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 



xiii 



The river was of great depth, and of a strong current; the 
water was always muddy; there came down the river con- 
tinually many trees and timber, which the force of the water 
and stream brought down/'* And the inhabitants were 
not unworthy of the great river. "The cacique came with 
two hundred canoes full of Indians with their bows and 
arrows, painted, with great plumes of white and many- 
colored feathers, with shields in their hands, wherewith 
they defended the rowers on both sides, and the men of 
war stood from the head to the stern, with their bows and 
arrows in their hands. The canoe wherein the cacique sat, 
had a canopy over the stern, and he sat beneath it, and so 
were the other canoes of the principal Indians. And from 
under the canopy where the chief man sat, he commanded 
and governed the other people. 

From the frequent mention of the river in Biedma's nar- 
rative we may infer that allusion to it was suppressed, or at 
most, mysteriously made by De Vaca, and that it was sup- 
posed to be the key to his land of gold. Certain it is, that 
their hopes seem here to brighten ; they built boats, the first 
European craft to traverse the river, and crossed to the west- 
ern side some twenty or thirty miles, as modern investiga- 
tors tell us, below the mouth of the Arkansas. t 

The country now reached by the Spaniards, was one of 
large and populous towns, well defended by walls and 
towers, pierced with regular loop-holes, and surrounded by 
well-made ditches. De Soto ascended the river, and strik- 
ing on a higher, drier, and more champaign country than 
he had yet seen, proceeded onward to Pacaha, a place it 
would not be easy now to locate. The Mississippi was thus 

* Historical Coll. of Louisiana, vol. ii., p. 168. 

t See the opinions collected by Bancroft, vol. i., p. 51. 



xiv 



HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY 



explored for a considerable distance; but far other than com- 
mercial or colonial projects filled the mind of De Soto; he 
stood by what he knew an outlet to the sea, a great artery 
of the continent, but his splendid array had dwindled down, 
and the rich realm of De Vaca had not yet rewarded his 
many toils. Nerved by despair, he marched northeast till 
he found himself among the wandering Indians of the plains, 
with their portable cabins. This was his highest point, and 
could not have been far from the Missouri. He then turned 
southwest again to the Arkansas, at the large town of 
Quigata, to seek guides to lead them to the southern sea; 
but Coligoa beyond the mountains tempted him to the north- 
west again; yet Coligoa ill-repaid their toil; it was poorer 
than the well-built towns they had left behind. Striking 
west and southwest again, he seems to have once more 
reached the Arkansas at Cay as, and ascended it to the town 
of Tanico, with its lake of hot water and saline marshes. 
Turning then to the south and east, he again reached Vican- 
que also on the Arkansas, and wintering there, descended 
it in the spring of 1542 to die on the banks of the Missis- 
sippi; after having thus explored the valley of the Arkansas, 
and examined its inhabitants, who, from the scanty notices 
we have, seem quite different from those afterward found 
there and apparently an offshoot of the New Mexican tribes.* 
De Soto was now dead, the expedition was abandoned, 
the only object was to leave the fatal country. Muscoso, 
their new leader, despaired of reaching the gulf by the 
Mississippi, and struck westward in hopes of reaching New 
Spain, as De Vaca had done. In this western march of over 
seven hundred miles, he explored a considerable part of the 

* In confining these rambles of De Soto to the valley of the Arkansas, 
I am not alone; see M'Culloch's Researches, pp. 529, 531, cited by Ban- 
croft. 



OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 



XV 



valley of the Red river, passing by the tribes which were not 
expelled or exterminated when the country was ultimately 
explored by the French. Nazacahoz, in the province of 
Guasco, was the most westerly town in their march. Here 
they found turquoises, pottery, and cotton mantles from 
New Mexico, and even an Indian woman who had escaped 
from the Pacific expedition, of which we shall next speak. 
From her statement, and the account given by the Indians 
of the large river of Daycao to the west, they marched ten 
days more, and crossing this river, probably the Pecos branch 
of the Rio Grande, found themselves in the country of the 
roving tribes. Disheartened at the prospect before him, 
Muscoso returned to the Mississippi, and ascending above 
Guachoya where De Soto had died, entered at Aminoya, and 
working up all their chains and iron into nails, began to 
build vessels to navigate the Mississippi. The place where 
these first brigantines were built, has not been clearly set- 
tled, its Indian name Aminoya has left no trace. Here 
" seven brigantines were constructed, well made, save that 
the planks were thin, because the nails were short, and were 
not pitched, nor had any decks to keep the water from com- 
ing in. Instead of decks, they laid planks, whereon the 
mariners might run to trim their sails, and the people might 
refresh themselves above and below." They were finished 
in June, and " it pleased God that the flood came up to the 
town to seek the brigantines, from whence they carried them 
by water to the river." Thus three hundred and twenty- 
two Spaniards sailed from Minoya on the 2d of July, 1543, 
and passing Guachoya, were attacked by the people of Qui- 
galta, who pursued them for many days, and did consider- 
able harm to the little fleet. At last, however, on the eigh- 
teenth day they reached the gulf of Mexico, after having 



xvi 



HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY 



sailed, as they computed, two hundred and fifty leagues 
down the river. Thence, after many dangers and hardships, 
the survivors coasting along reached Tampico, "whereat the 
viceroy and all the inhabitants of Mexico wondered," says 
the chronicle.* 

Such is, in brief, the history of the Mississippi as explored 
by De Soto, and his successor, Muscoso, the first who' sailed 
" Down the great river to the opening gulf." 

The account they gave received additional confirmation 
from the second expedition of Father Mark's from the Pacific 
coast. This expedition commanded by Coronado, and 
guided by the adventurous missionary, reached and took 
Cibola, which proved of little value. Ascending the Colo- 
rado, the commander left its valley and crossed the Rio 
Grande in search of Quivira; a faithless guide promised 
him gold in all abundance, and others as faithless now led 
him up and down the prairies watered by the upper branches 
of the Arkansas and Platte. He was thus on the upper 
waters of the former river, in 1 542, at the time when Mus- 
coso heard of him by his runaway slave ; but neither trusted 
the accounts which he received and they did not meet. At 
Tiguex before he reached the Rio Grande, Coronado had 
found a " Florida Indian " whose description of the Missis- 
sippi tallies quite well with that of the gentleman of Elvas. 
" This river in his country," he said, " was two leagues wide, 
and that they found fish in it as large as horses, and that 
they had on it canoes which could hold twenty rowers on 
each side: and that the lords sat at the stern under a can- 
opy, "t At the Rio Grande, too, Coronado heard from the 

* For an account of De Soto's expedition, see Biedma's narrative, and 
that of the gentleman of Elvas, in Historical Collections of Louisiana, 
vol. ii. La Florida del Inca, is a romance. 

t Castanedo de Nagera in Ternaux, p. 77. 



OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 



xvii 



Querechos, or roving Indians of the plains, " that marching 
toward the rising sun, he should meet a very great river, 
the banks of which he could follow ninety days without leav- 
ing inhabited country. They added that the first village was 
called Haxa, that the river was more than a league wide, 
and that there was a great number of canoes."* 

Such clear accounts of a great river, which the party of 
De Soto had found navigable for at least a thousand miles, 
would naturally have drawn attention to it ; but we find no 
notice of any Spanish vessels entering the river to trade in 
furs or slaves, or simply to explore. Accident occasionally 
brought some to its banks, but these visits are few and brief, 
and they led to no result. Thus, in 1553, a rich argosy from 
Vera Cruz, after stopping at Havana, was wrecked on the 
Florida coast, and a few survivors reached Tampico by land, 
escaping from the constant and terrible attacks of the na- 
tives, t In consequence of this and other disasters the king, 
in 1557, ordered the reduction of Florida, and an army of 
1,500 men was fitted out two years after under Don Tristan 
de Luna, who carried with him every survivor of any expedi- 
tion or shipwreck in Florida, who could be found. 

De Luna reached St. Mary's bay in safety, and had sent 
back two vessels to announce his arrival in Florida, when a 
sudden storm came on, and all his vessels were dashed to 
pieces. Thus left in as miserable a state as any shipwrecked 
party before, Tristan was not disheartened ; he advanced to 
an Indian town Nanipacna, which has been taken and wasted 
by De Soto. J Hearing very flattering accounts of the rich 
country of Coosa, he despatched a party of two hundred 
there, under his sargente mayor accompaniedby two Domin- 

* Castanedo de Nagera in Ternaux, p. 117. 
t Ensayo Crono ad ann. 

t It must be the Napetuca of the Portuguese relation. For De 
Luna, see Ens. Cron. 1559. 



xviii 



HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY 



icans. The party reached Coosa in safety, entered into an 
alliance offensive and defensive with the cacique, who was 
then at war with the Napochies (probably the Natchez), who 
lay on the Ochechiton, or great water, which the Spaniards 
took to be the sea. An expedition was soon set on foot 
against the Natchez, and the cacique went at the head as 
chief of Coosa never went before, on a gallant Arabian steed, 
with a negro groom at his horse's head. Defeating the 
enemy, they reached the Ochechiton which proved to be a 
mighty river, the Rio del Espiritu de Santo, in other words, 
the Mississippi, thus reached again by the Spanish adventur- 
ers and missionaries. Revolts had meanwhile arisen in De 
Luna's camp, and vessels soon came to bear the survivors 
back to Mexico, and none now looked in hope to that fatal 
quarter. 

The entrance of some missionaries into New Mexico in 
1580, though fatal to themselves, led to new expeditions, and 
to the final establishment of Spanish colonies there ; here as 
before, they heard continually of the Mississippi, or Rio 
Grande del Espiritu Santo, and some seem actually to have 
reached it;* but no steps were taken to explore it, and the 
Rio Grande is so called merely because some one mistook 
it for the great river of De Soto.f 

A work published in 1630,! has indeed an account of a 
Portuguese captain, Vincent Gonzalez, who is said to have 
sailed up a large river between Apalache and Tampico, and 
to have approached quite near the kingdom of Quivira, but 
though this is supposed by the author to be the Espiritu 
Santo, the notice is too vague to found any inference. 

* See Ensayo Chronologico, p. 170; and tit Bonilla Torquemada 
vol. iii., p. 358. 

t I have seen this fact stated, but can not now state the work. 
X Benavides Memorial. 



OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 



xix 



The Mississippi was now forgotten, and although explored 
for at least a thousand miles, known to have at least two 
branches equal in size to the finest rivers of Spain, to be 
nearly a league wide and perfectly navigable, it is laid down 
on maps as an insignificant stream, often not even distin- 
guished by its name of Espiritu Santo, and then we are left 
to conjecture what petty line was intended for the great river 
of the west.* 

The Spaniards had thus abandoned the valley of the Mis- 
sissippi, and a few years after the French at the north began 
to hear of it, and it was finally reached and explored by the 
Jesuit missionaries, the great pioneers of the north and west. 
Quebec was founded by Champlain, in 1608. He was soon 
joined by Recollect friars, and while he entered the Seneca 
country with his Huron allies, the intrepid Father Le Caron 
had ascended the Ottawa and reached the banks of Lake 
Huron. Subsequently others joined him there; they invited 
the Jesuits to aid them, and the tribes in the peninsula were 
visited from Detroit to Niagara, and from Lake Nipissing 
to Montreal. The capture of Canada by the English, in 
1629, defeated any further missionary efforts for a time; 
but it was restored in 1632, and the Jesuits sent out to con- 
tinue the missions alone. They " now became the first dis- 
coverers of the greater part of the interior of this continent. 
They were the first Europeans who formed a settlement on 
the coast of Maine, and among the first to reach it from the 
St. Lawrence. They, it was, who thoroughly explored the 
Saguenay, discovered Lake St. John, and led the way over- 

* An English voyage up in 1648, or thereabouts, and a Spanish 
one up into New York by the Mississippi and Ohio, in 1669, have 
found advocates; but I confess my skepticism. That a ship may 
have occasionally entered the Delta, is not improbable, and Indian 
report seems to fix one somewhere near 1669. See Sparks' Life of 
La Salle, Life of Marquette, Denton's New-York. 



XX 



HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY 



land from Quebec to Hudson's bay. It is to one of them 
that we owe the discovery of the rich and inexhaustible salt 
springs of Onondaga. Within ten years of their second 
arrival, they had completed the examination of the country 
from Lake Superior to the gulf, and founded several villages 
of Christian neophytes on the borders of the upper lakes. 
While the intercourse of the Dutch was yet confined to the 
Indians in the vicinity of Fort Orange, and five years before 
Elliott of New England had addressed a single word to the 
Indians within six miles of Boston harbor the French 
missionaries planted the cross at Sault Ste. Marie, whence 
they looked down on the Sioux country and the valley of 
the Mississippi. The vast unknown west now opened its 
prairies before them. 

" Fortunately the early missionaries were men of learning 
and observation. They felt deeply the importance of their 
position, and while acquitting themselves of the duties of 
their calling, carefully recorded the progress of events 
around them/'* Year after year these accounts reached 
Europe, and for a long time were regularly issued from the 
press, in the same epistolary form in which they were 
written. 

In the history of the French colonies, they are a source 
such as no other part of the country possesses. For our pres- 
ent purpose, they have been invaluable; from them we can 
trace step by step, the gradual discovery of the Mississippi. 

As early as 1639, the adventurous and noble hearted sieur 
Nicolet,f the interpreter of the colony had struck west of the 
* O'Callaghan, Jesuit Relations. 

f As we are perhaps the first to advance the claim of the sieur 
Nicolet, it may not be amiss to give a meager sketch of a man too 
much unknown, though he occupied an important place in the early 
history of Canada. He came out to Canada in 1618, and was never 
from that time unemployed. Almost immediately after his coming, 



OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. xxi 

Hurons, and, reaching the last limit of the Algonquins, 
found himself among the Ouinipegou ( Winnebagoes), " a 
people called so, because they came from a distant sea, but 
whom some French erroneously called Puants," says this 
early account. Like the Nad8e8is they spoke a language 
distinct from the Huron and Algonquin. With these Nicolet 
entered into friendly relations, and exploring Green bay, 
ascended Fox river to its portage, and embarked on a river, 
flowing west; and says Father Vimont, " the sieur Nicolet 
who had penetrated furthest into those distant countries, 
avers that had he sailed three days more on a great river 
which flows from that lake (Green bay), he would have 
found the sea." This shows that Nicolet like De Luna's 
lieutenant mistook for the sea, the Indian term Great Water, 

he was sent to the plundering Honqueronons, or Indians of the 
island, above the Chaudiere falls on the Ottawa. Here he" re- 
mained two years, often suffering from hunger and their brutality, 
but finally acquired a great knowledge of the Algonquin. After 
this, he was sent with four hundred Algonquins to make peace with 
the Iroquois, and completely succeeded in his mission. He was 
then for eight or nine years stationed among the Nipissings, and 
became almost as Indian as they. After the restoration of Canada 
to France, he was made interpreter and commissary of the colony, 
which office he filled till he was sent, about 1639, to Green Bay, and 
the Men of the sea, where he met an assembly of four or five thou- 
sand men, and concluded peace with them. It must have been at 
this time that he ascended the Fox river to the Wisconsin. Re- 
turning to Quebec, he succeeded Olivier as commissary, and re- 
tained this office till his death. In 1641, we find him with F. Rague- 
neau, negotiating a peace with the Iroquois, at Three-Rivers. In 
1642, sent from Quebec to Three-Rivers, to rescue a poor Abenaqui 
from the hands of some pagan Algonquins, he set out in a small 
boat on the 31st of October, at sunset with Savigni, but a storm 
came on, and their little craft capsized near Sillery. Savigni swam 
to the shore, Nicolet, unable to swim, sank to rise no more. Thus 
perished, in a work of Christian charity, the sieur Nicolet, the first 
Frenchman who reached the waters of the Mississippi. See Rel. 
i639-'40, p. 135. Rel. i640-'4i, ch. ix. Rel. 1642-43, p. 8. Creuxius, 
P. 359- 



xxii 



HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY 



applied to the Mississippi. It is certain then, that to Nicolet 
is due the credit of having been the first to reach the waters 
of the Mississippi. The hope of reaching the Pacific now 
aroused the courage of the missionaries, some fathers invited 
by the Algonquins were to be sent to " those men of the 
other sea," but, adds Vimont prophetically, " Perhaps this 
voyage will be reserved for one of us who have some little 
knowledge of the Algonquin/'* 

In 1 64 1, two Jesuits from the Huron mission, the illus- 
trious Isaac Jogues and Charles Raymbout were actually 
sent to Sault St. Mary's, and they too heard of the Sioux 
and the river on which they lay, and they burned to enter 
those new realms and speak that language yet unknown, 
which fell so strangely on their ears now used to Huron and 
Algonquin sounds.f 

The next year the Iroquois war broke out in all its fury; 
and the missionaries had to abandon all hopes of extending 
to the west. The war proved fatal to the allies of the French; 
by 1650, all upper Canada was a desert, and not a mission, 
not a single Indian was to be found, where but a few years 
before the cross towered in each of their many villages, and 
hundreds of fervent Christians gathered around their fifteen 
missionaries. The earth still reeked with the blood of the 
pastor and his flock; six missionary fathers had fallen by 
the hands of the Iroquois, another had been fearfully muti- 
lated in their hands. But scarce was there a ray of peace 
when the survivors, were again summoned to the west. A 
field opened on Lake Superior. Father Garreau was sent in 

* Rel. 1639- '40, pp. 132, 135, &c. The Lac des Puans is laid down 
on Champlain's map of 1632; but in all probability, only from 
report, as it is placed north of Lake Superior, unless it is meant 
for Lake Winnipeg, which, like Green bay, got its name from 
the Algonquin epithet for the Dacotahs, as coming from the Pacific. 

t Rel. 1642, p. 166. 



OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 



xxiii 



1656, but was killed ere he left the St. Lawrence. De Gro- 
seilles and another Frenchman, more fortunate, wintered on 
the shores of the lake in 1658; they too visited the Sioux, 
and from the fugitive Hurons among them heard still clearer 
tidings of a great river on which they had struck, as, plung- 
ing through unknown wood and waste, over cliffs and moun- 
tains, they had sought to escape the destructive hand of the 
pursuing Iroquois. " It was a beautiful river," writes the 
annalist, " large, broad, and deep, which would bear com- 
parison, they say, with our St. Lawrence." On its banks 
they found the Abimi8ec, the Illinois of later days. 

From other quarters, too, they began to hear of this great 
river. The missionaries on the Saguenay heard of the Win- 
nipegouek, and their bay whence three seas could be reached, 
the north, the south, and the west.* The missionaries in 
New York saw Iroquois war-parties set out against the 
Ontoagannha whose towns " lay on a beautiful river (Ohio), 
which leads to the great lake as they called the sea, where 
they traded with Europeans, who pray to God as we do, and 
have rosaries and bells to call men to prayers." This sea 
the missionaries judged must be the gulf of Mexico, or that 
of California. t 

Meanwhile Menard, an old Huron missionary, proceeded, 
in 1660, to Lake Superior, and founded an Ottawa mission 
on the southern shore. He, too, heard of the Mississippi, 
and had resolved to reach the nations on its banks, undeter- 
red by the difficulties of the way; but a work of charity 
called him to another quarter, and a death in the wilderness 

* Rel. i659-'6o, p. 61. 
t Rel. i66i-'62, p. 9. 



3 



xxvi 



HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY 



louez, he returned to Green bay, and as early as September, 
in the same year, both were again at Maskoutens.* 

Father Dablon had meanwhile been named superior-gen- 
eral of the Canada missions, and seems to have taken the 
more interest in the exploring of the Mississippi by the 
Wisconsin, as the projected Illinois mission of Father Mar- 
quette was, for a time at least, defeated. The peace on which 
they relied was suddenly destroyed; the Sioux provoked by 
the rash insolence of the Hurons and Ottawas, declared war, 
and sent back to the missionary the pictures which he had 
given them. Stratagem enabled them to neutralize the ad- 
vantage which firearms gave their enemies ; the Hurons and 
Ottawas were completely defeated, and fugitives already 
before the face of the Iroquois, they now fled again from a 
more terrible foe in the west. All hopes of his Illinois mis- 
sion being thus dashed, the dejected Marquette followed his 
fugitive flocks, and as the Ottawas proceeded apart to Mani- 
toulin, he accompanied the Hurons to Mackinaw. f Here, 
doubtless, a hope of reaching the Mississippi by the Wiscon- 
sin, again roused him, as we soon find it the burthen of his 
thoughts. 

Father Dablon published the Relations of i6jo-ji, and 
its map of Lake Superior. In his description of the map 

* Rel. 1670-71, p. 169. At the time of drawing my notice on F. 
Allouez, p. 67 post, I had some doubts as to these visits of Allouez 
and Dablon. The former, Allouez, is the first missionary who 
reached the waters of the Mississippi; he twice ascended the Fox 
river in 1670, and twice overthrew the idol at Kakalin rapid. For- 
tunately Mr. Squier knows but little of the French missionaries at 
the north, or he would not have called the good fathers infamous 
for thus unseating the sacred object of the worship of the aborigines 
to substitute what with whimsical archaeology he calls the fictions of 
their own religion, Allouez is the first to use a term at all like 
Michigan for the lake, and confirms my conjecture of the identity 
of the Maskoutens and Assistagueronons. 

f Rel. 1670-71, p. 147. 



OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 



xxvii 



he at once alludes to the Mississippi. " To the south flows 
the great river, which they call the Missisipi, which can have 
its mouth only in the Florida sea, more than four hundred 
leagues from here."* Further on he says, " I deem it proper 
to set down here all we have learnt of it. It seems to en- 
circle all our lakes, rising in the north and running to the 
south, till it empties in a sea, which we take to be the Red 
sea (gulf of California), or that of Florida; as we have no 
knowledge of any great rivers in those parts which empty 
into those two seas.f Some Indians assure us that this river 
is so beautiful that more than three hundred leagues from its 
mouth, it is larger than that which flows by Quebec, as they 
make it more than a league wide. They say, moreover, that 
all this vast extent of country is nothing but prairies, with- 
out trees or woods, which obliges the inhabitants of those 
parts to use turf and sun-dried dung for fuel, till you come 
about twenty leagues from the sea. Here the forests begin 
to appear again. Some warriors of this country (Maskou- 
tens), who say they have descended that far, assure us that 
they saw men like the French, who were splitting trees with 
long knives, some of whom had their house on the water, 
thus they explained their meaning, speaking of sawed planks 
and ships. They saw besides, that all along this great river 
are various towns of different nations, languages, and cus- 
toms, who all make war on each other; some are situated 
on the river side, but most of them inland, continuing thus 
up to the nation of the Nadouessi who are scattered over 
more than a hundred leagues of country, "t 

* Rel. 1670-71, p. 89. 

t There is probably a misprint here, and it should be, "we have 
some knowledge " or else he held a theory that every sea must 
have its great river. 

X Rel 1670-71, p. 175. 



xxviii 



HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY 



The course of the Mississippi, its great features, the nature 
of the country, were all known to the western missionaries 
and the traders, who alone with them carried on the discov- 
ery of the west. Among the latter was Jolliet, who in his 
rambles also penetrated near the Mississippi.* As the war 
seemed an obstacle to so hazardous an undertaking, the mis- 
sionaries, it would appear, urged the French court to set on 
foot an expedition. Marquette held himself in readiness 
to leave Mackinaw at the first sign of his superior's will, and 
at last on the 4th of June, 1672, the French minister wrote 
to Talon, then intendant of Canada : "As after the increase 
of the colony, there is nothing more important for the colony 
than the discovery of a passage to the south sea, his majesty 
wishes you to give it your attention. "t Talon was then 
about to return to France, but recommended Jolliet to the 
new governor Frontenac, who had just arrived. The latter 
approved the choice, and Jolliet received his proper instruc- 
tions from the new intendant. " The Chevalier de Grand 
Fontaine," writes Frontenac, on the 2d of November, " has 
deemed expedient for the service to send the sieur Jolliet to 
discover the south sea by the Maskoutens country, and the 
great river Mississippi, which is believed to empty in the 
California sea. He is a man of experience in this kind of 
discovery, and has already been near the great river, of 
which he promises to see the mouth. 

Of the missionaries, two seemed entitled to the honor of 
exploring the great river, Allouez, the first to reach its 
waters, and Marquette named for some years missionary 
to the Illinois. The latter was chosen, and since his depart- 
ure from Chegoimegon, he had constantly offered up his 

* Mem. of Frontenac, N. Y. Paris Doc, vol. i., p. 274. 
t Ibid, vol. i., p. 267. 

X Mem. of Frontenac, N. Y. Paris Doc, vol. i., p. 274. 



OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 



xxix 



devotions to the blessed Virgin Immaculate, to obtain the 
grace of reaching the Mississippi. What was his joy when 
on the very festival dearest to his heart, that of the Immacu- 
late Conception, Jolliet arrived bearing the letters of his 
superiors which bid him embark at last, in his company to 
carry out the design so long, and so fondly projected. 

" The long-expected discovery of the Mississippi was now 
at hand, to be accomplished by Jolliet of Quebec, of whom 
there is scarce a record but this one excursion that gives him 
immortality and by Marquette, who, after years of pious 
assiduity to the poor wrecks of Hurons, whom he planted 
near abundant fisheries, on the cold extremity of Michigan, 
entered, with equal humility, upon a career which exposed 
his life to perpetual danger, and by its results affected the 
destiny of nations."* 

The winter was spent in preparation, in studying over all 
that had yet been learned of the great river, in gathering 
around them every Indian wanderer, and amid the tawny 
group drawing their first rude map of the Mississippi, and 
the water courses that led to it. And on this first map traced 
doubtless kneeling on the ground they set down the names 
of each tribe they were to pass, each important point to 
be met. The discovery was dangerous, but it was not to be 
rash; all was the result of calm, cool investigation, and 
never was chance less concerned than in the discovery of 
the Mississippi. 

In the spring they embarked at Mackinaw in two frail 
bark canoes, each with his paddle in hand, and full of hope, 
they soon plied them merrily over the crystal waters of the 
lake. All was new to Marquette, and he describes as he 
went along the Menomonies, Green bay, and Maskoutens, 

* Bancroft. 



XXX 



HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY 



which he reached on the 7th of June, 1673. He had now 
attained the limit of former discoveries, the new world was 
before them; they looked back a last adieu to the waters, 
which great as the distance was, connected them with Que- 
bec and their countrymen; they knelt on the shore to offer, 
by a new devotion, their lives, their honor, and their under- 
taking, to their beloved mother the Virgin Mary Immacu- 
late; then launching on the broad Wisconsin, sailed slowly 
down its current amid its vine-clad isles, and its countless 
sand-bars. No sound broke the stillness, no human form 
appeared, and at last, after sailing seven days, on the 17th 
of June, they happily glided into the great river. Joy that 
could find no utterance in words filled the grateful heart of 
Marquette. The broad river of the Conception, as he named 
it, now lay before them, stretching away hundreds of miles 
to an unknown sea. Soon all was new; mountain and forest 
had glided away; the islands, with their groves of cotton- 
wood, became more frequent, and moose and deer browsed 
on the plains ; strange animals were seen traversing the river, 
and monstrous fish appeared in its waters. But they pro- 
ceeded on their way amid this solitude, frightful by its utter 
absence of man. Descending still further, they came to the 
land of the bison, or pisikiou, which, with the turkey, became 
sole tenants of the wilderness; all other game had disap- 
peared. At last, on the 25th of June, they descried foot- 
prints on the shore. They now took heart again, and Jolliet 
and the missionary leaving their five men in the canoes, fol- 
lowed a little beaten path to discover who the tribe might be. 
They travelled on in silence almost to the cabin-doors, when 
they halted, and with a loud halloa proclaimed their coming. 
Three villages lay before them; the first, roused by the cry, 
poured forth its motley group, which halted at the sight of 
the newcomers, and the well-known dress of the missionary. 



OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 



xxxi 



Old men came slowly on, step by measured step, bearing 
aloft the all-mysterious calumet. All was silence; they stood 
at last before the two Europeans, and Marquette asked, 
" Who are you? " " We are Illinois," was the answer, 
which dispelled all anxiety from the explorers, and sent a 
thrill to the heart of Marquette ; the Illinois missionary was 
at last amid the children of that tribe which he had so long, 
so tenderly yearned to see. 

After friendly greetings at this town of Pewaria, and the 
neighboring one of Moing-wena, they returned to their 
canoes, escorted by the wandering tribe, who gave their 
hardy visitants a calumet, the safeguard of the West. With 
renewed courage and lighter hearts, they sailed on, and pass- 
ing a high rock with strange and monstrous forms depicted 
on its rugged surface, heard in the distance the roaring as of 
a mighty cataract, and soon beheld Pekitanoui, or the muddy 
river, as the Algonquins call the Missouri, rushing like some 
untamed monster into the calm and clear Mississippi, and 
hurrying in with its muddy waters the trees which it had 
rooted up in its impetuous course. Already had the mission- 
aries heard of the river running to the western sea to be 
reached by the branches of the Mississippi, and Marquette, 
now better informed, fondly hoped to reach it one day by the 
Missouri. But now their course lay south, and passing a 
dangerous eddy, the demon of the western Indians, they 
marked the Waboukigou, or Ohio, the river of the Shaw- 
nees, and still holding on their way, came to the warm land 
of the cane, and the country which the mosquitoes might 
call their own. While enveloped in their sails as a shelter 
from them, they came upon a tribe who invited them to the 
shore. They were wild wanderers, for they had guns bought 
of Catholic Europeans to the east. 

Thus far all had been friendly, and encouraged by this 



XXX11 



HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY 



second meeting, they plied their oars anew, and amid groves 
of cotton-wood on either side, descended to the 33d degree, 
where, for the first time, a hostile reception seemed promised 
by the excited Metchigameas. Too few to resist, their only 
hope on earth was the mysterious calumet, and in heaven the 
protection of Mary, to whom they sent up those fervent 
prayers, which none but one who has called on her in the 
hour of need can realize. At last the storm subsided, and 
they were received in peace; their language formed an obsta- 
cle, but an interpreter was found, and after explaining the 
object of their coming, and announcing the great truths of 
Christianity, they embarked for Akamsea, a village thirty 
miles below on the eastern shore. 

Here they were well received, and learned that the mouth 
of the river was but ten days' sail from this village; but they 
heard, too, of nations there trading with Europeans, and of 
wars between the tribes, and the two explorers spent a night 
in consultation. The Mississippi, they now saw, emptied 
into the gulf of Mexico, between Florida and Tampico, two 
Spanish points; they might by proceeding fall into their 
hands. They resolved to return. Thus far only Marquette 
traced the map, and he put down the names of other tribes 
of which they heard. Of these in the Atotchasi, Matora, and 
Papihaka, we recognize Arkansas tribes; and the Akoroas 
and Tanikwas, Pawnees and Omahas, Kansas and Apiches, 
are well known in after days. 

They accordingly set out from Akensea on the 17th of 
July to return. Passing the Missouri again, they entered 
the Illinois, and meeting the friendly Kaskaskias at its upper 
portage, were led by them in a kind of triumph to Lake 
Michigan, for Marquette had promised to return and instruct 
them in the faith. Sailing along the lake, they crossed the 



OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. XXxiii 

outer peninsula of Green bay, and reached the mission of 
St. Francis Xavier, just four months after their departure 
from it. 

Thus had the missionaries achieved their long-projected 
work. The triumph of the age was thus completed in the 
discovery and exploration of the Mississippi, which threw 
open to France, the richest, most fertile, and accessible terri- 
tory in the new world. Marquette, whose health had been 
severely tried in this voyage, remained at St. Francis to re- 
cruit his strength before resuming his wonted missionary 
labors, for he sought no laurels, he aspired to no tinsel praise. 

Jolliet, who had, like Marquette, drawn up a journal and 
map of his voyage, set out (probably in the spring) for Que- 
bec, to report to the governor of Canada the result of his 
expedition, and took with him an Indian boy, doubtless the 
young slave given them by the great chief of the Illinois. 
Unfortunately, while shooting the rapids above Montreal, 
his canoe turned, and he barely escaped with his life, losing 
all his papers and his Indian companion. What route he had 
followed from Mackinaw, we do not know; but he seems to 
have descended by Detroit river, Lake Erie, and Niagara, 
as Frontenac announcing his return to the government in 
France, says, " he has found admirable countries, and so 
easy a navigation by the beautiful river which he found, that 
from Lake Ontario and Fort Frontenac, you can go in barks 
to the gulf of Mexico, there being but one discharge to be 
made at the place where Lake Erie falls into Lake Ontario." 

Separated as he was from Marquette, and deprived of his 
papers by the accident, Jolliet drew up a narrative of his 
voyage from recollection, and also sketched a map which 
Frontenac transmitted to France in November, 1674, three 



xxxiv 



HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY 



months after Jolliet's arrival at Quebec* The loss of Jol- 
liet's narrative and map now gave the highest importance to 
those in the hands of the missionaries; these Frontenac 
promised to send, and Father Marquette, as we find by his 
autograph letter, transmitted copies to his superior at his 
request, prior to October ; and the French government was, 
undoubtedly, possessed, in 1675, of Marquette's journal and 
map, and fully aware of the great advantage to be derived 

* As Frontenac's memoir completely refutes the assertion of 
Hennepin, that Jolliet made no report to the government, and is 
a monument of no little importance, as substantiating the voyage 
of Marquette and Jolliet we insert it in the original, from vol. i., 
p. 258, of the Paris Documents at Albany. 

" Quebec le 14 Novemb., 1674. 
" § VI. Retour du Sr. Joliet de son voyage a la decouverte de la 
mer du sud. 

" Le Sr. Joliet que M. Talon m'a conseille d'enoyer a la decou- 
verte de la mer du sud, lorsque j'arrivai de France, en est de retour 
depuis trois mois et a decouvert des pays admirables et une naviga- 
tion si aisie par les belles rivieres qu'il a trouvees que du lac On- 
tario et du fort Frontenac on pourrait aller en barque j usque dans 
le golfe du Mexique, n'y ayant qu'une seule decharge a faire dans 
l'endroit ou le Lac Erie tombe dans le Lac Ontario. 

" Ce sont des projets a quoi Ton pourra travailler lorsque la paix 
sera bien etablie et quand il plaira au roi de pousser ces decou- 
vertes. 

"II a ete jusqu'a dix journees du golfe du Mexique et croit que 
les rivieres que du cote de l'ouest tombent dans la grande riviere 
qu'il a trouvee, qui va du nau S . . . et qu'on trouveroit des com- 
munications d'eaux qui meneroient a la mer Vermeille et de la Californie. 

"Je vuos envoie par mon secretaire la carte qu'il en a faite te les 
remarques dont il s'est pu souvenir, ayant perdu tous ses memoires 
et ses journaux dans la naufrage qu'il fit a la vue de Montreal, ou 
il pensa se noyed, apres avoir fait un voyage de douze cents lieues 
et perdit tous ses papiers et un petit sauvage qu'il ramenoit de 
ces pays la. 

" II avoit laisee dans le Lac Superieur au Sault Ste. Marie chez 
les Peres des copies de ses journaux, que nous ne saurions avoir 
que l'annee prochaine, par ou vous apprendrez plus de particularites 
de cette decouverte, dont il s'est tres bien acquitte. 

" Frontenac." 



OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 



XXXV 



from the discoveries made, either for communicating direct 
with France from Illinois, or of seeking the nearest road to 
the gulf of California and the Pacific, by the western tribu- 
taries of the Mississippi. " These," says Frontenac, " are 
projects we can take in hand when peace is well established, 
and it shall please his majesty to carry out the exploration." 

The court allowed the whole affair to pass unnoticed. 
Marquette's narrative was not published, and the Jesuit 
Relations apparently prohibited; so that it would not, per- 
haps, have seen the light of other days, had not Thevenot 
obtained a copy of the narrative and a map which he pub- 
lished in 1 68 1.* France would have derived no benefit from 
this discovery, but for the enterprise and persevering cour- 
age of Robert Cavalier de la Salle. When Jolliet passed 
down Lake Ontario, in 1674, he stopped at Fort Frontenac 
where La Salle was then commander under Frontenac. He 
was thus one of the first to know the result of Jolliet's voy- 
age, and, perhaps, was one of the few that saw his maps and 
journal which were lost before he reached the next French 
post. At the time it does not seem to have made much im- 
pression on La Salle; his great object then was to build up 
a fortune, and the next year he obtained a grant of Fort 
Frontenac and the monopoly of the lake trade and a patent 
of nobility. His plans failed, and instead of acquiring 
wealth, he found himself embarrassed by immense debts. 
He now looked for some new field, and by reading the 
accounts of the Spanish adventurers, seems to have been the 
first to identify the great river of Marquette, and Jolliet with 
the great river of De Soto. The vast herds of bison seemed 
to him to afford an easy means of realizing all that he could 
hope, by enabling him to ship from the banks of the Missouri 

* There is a copy of this original edition in the library of Harvard 
College. An exact copy was printed by Mr. Rich, a few years ago. 



XXXVI 



HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY 



and Illinois direct to France by the gulf of Mexico, cargoes 
of buffalo-skins and wool. In 1677, he repaired again to 
France, and by the help of Frontenac's recommendation, ob- 
tained a patent for his discovery, and a new monopoly in the 
following May, and by September was in Canada with Tonty 
and a body of mechanics and mariners, with all things neces- 
sary for his expedition. The plan traced by Jolliet in Fron- 
tenac's despatch of 1674, seems to have been followed by 
him without further investigation. As it would be neces- 
sary to unload at the falls of Niagara, the Onghiara, of the 
old missionaries, he resolved to build a new fort there, and 
construct vessels above the cataract to ply on the upper lakes, 
and thus connect his trading-houses on the Mississippi with 
Fort Frontenac, his chief and most expensive establishment. 
Such was his celerity that, by the 5th of December, the first 
detachment of his party entered the Niagara river, and a site 
was soon selected for a fort, and for the construction of a 
vessel above the falls. Difficulties with the Senecas finally 
compelled him to relinquish the fort, and a mere shed or 
storehouse was raised. The vessel, however, went on, and 
he at last saw it glide down into the rapid current of Niagara 
in August, 1679, amid the admiring crowd of Indians who 
had gathered around the French. 1 

There was now no obstacle to his further progress, but 
we must here regret that he had not studied former discov- 
eries more narrowly. One of his clear and comprehensive 
mind would have seized at once the great western branch of 
the Mississippi, already known to the missionaries and the 
Iroquois. By his present plans he had to build one vessel 
above the falls of Niagara, and a second on the Illinois river; 
one on the Ohio, so easily reached by the Alleghany would 
have carried him to the gulf, and he would thus have avoided 



OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 



XXXV11 



the various troubles which so long retarded his reaching the 
mouth of the Mississippi. He sailed to Green bay, but found 
that he had arrayed against him all the private traders of 
the west, by sending men to trade, contrary to his patent, 
which expressly excepted the Ottawa country. Of this he 
soon felt the effects, his men began to desert, and to crown 
all his misfortunes, his new vessel, the Griffin, was lost on 
her way back to Niagara. Before this catastrophe he had 
set out to descend Lake Michigan. He built a kind of fort 
at the mouth of the St. Joseph's and sounded its channel, 
and, at last, in December, proceeded to enter the. Kankakee, 
a branch of the Illinois, by a portage from the St. Joseph's. 
Disheartened by the desertion and disaffection of his men, 
and by the want of all tidings of his vessel, he began the 
erection of Fort Crevecceur, and of a vessel near the Illinois 
camp below Lake Peoria. The vessel he had finally to aban- 
don for want of proper materials to complete it, and he set 
out almost alone for Fort Frontenac by land, after sending 
Father Hennepin to explore the Illinois to its mouth. That 
missionary went further; voluntarily or as a prisoner of 
the Sioux, he seems to have ascended as far as St. Anthony's 
falls, which owe their name to him. His exploration of the 
Mississippi between the Illinois river and St. Anthony's falls, 
took place in 1680, between the months of March and Sep- 
tember, when, delivered by De Luth, he returned to Mac- 
kinaw, and thence in the spring almost direct to Quebec and 
Europe. By 1683, he published, at Paris, an account of his 
voyage under the title of Description de la Louisiane, which 
after the Relations, and Marquette's narrative, is the next 
work relative to the Mississippi, and contains the first printed 
description of that river above the mouth of the Wisconsin, 
from actual observation. 

La Salle returned to Illinois in 1681, and, to his surprise, 



XXXviii HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY 

found his fort deserted. He soon after met the survivors of 
his first expedition at Mackinaw, and set about new prepara- 
tions for his great work. In January, 1682, he was again 
with his party at the extremity of Lake Michigan, and enter- 
ing the Chicago river, followed the old line of Father Mar- 
quette, reached Fort Crevecceur once more, and at last began 
in earnest his voyage down the Mississippi. He had aban- 
doned the idea of sailing down in a ship, and resolved to go 
in boats, ascertain accurately the position of its mouth, and 
then return to France and sail direct with a colony for the 
mouth, and ascend to some convenient place. On the 6th of 
February, the little expedition, apparently in three large 
boats or canoes, conducted by La Salle and his lieutenants, 
Tonty and Dautray, with Father Zenobius Membre, as their 
chaplain, and Indians as hunters and guides, entered the 
wide waters of the Mississippi, which henceforward, in the 
narratives of La Salle's companions assumes the name of 
Colbert. They passed the mouth of the muddy Missouri, 
and further on, the deserted village of the Tamaroas, and 
next the Ohio, where the marshy land began that prevented 
their landing. Detained soon after by the loss of one of his 
men, La Salle encamped on the bluff, and fell in with some 
Chickasaws, then proceeding on, at last, on the 3d of March, 
was aroused by the war-cries, and the rattling drums of an 
Arkansas village. He had reached the limit of Jolliet's 
voyage; henceforward, he was to be the first French ex- 
plorer. Warlike as the greeting was, La Salle soon entered 
into friendly relations with them, and several days were 
spent in their village. Here a cross was planted with the 
arms of the French king, and the missionary endeavored, by 
interpreters and signs to give some idea of Christianity. 
On the 17th, La Salle embarked again, and passing two 



OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. XXxix 

more Arkansas towns, reached the populous tribe of the 
Taensas, in their houses of clay and straw, with roofs of 
cane, themselves attired in mantles, woven of white pliant 
bark, and showing Eastern reverence for their monarch, who 
in great ceremony visited the envoys of the French. 

Pursuing his course, the party next came to the Natchez, 
where another cross was planted, and visiting the Koroas 
proceeded on till the river divided into two branches. Fol- 
lowing the westerly one, they sailed past the Quinipissas, 
and the pillaged town of another tribe, till they reached the 
delta, on the 6th of April. La Salle and his two lieutenants, 
each taking a separate channel, advanced, full of hope; the 
brackish water, growing salter as they proceeded, being a 
sure index of the sea, which they reached at last on the Qth 
of April, 1682, sixty-two days after their entering tne 
Mississippi. 

The French had thus, at last, in the two expeditions of 
Jolliet and La Salle, completely explored the river from the 
falls of St. Anthony to the gulf of Mexico. La Salle now 
planted a cross with the arms of France amid the solemn 
chant of hymns of thanksgiving, and in the name of the 
French king took possession of the river, of all its branches, 
and the territory watered by them ; and the notary drew up 
an authentic act, which all signed with beating hearts, and 
a leaden plate with the arms of France, and the names of 
the discoverers was amid the rattle of musketry deposited in 
the earth. 

La Salle now ascended again to Illinois, and despatched 
Father Zenobius Membre to France to lay an account of his 
voyage before the government. He sailed from Quebec on 
the 1 5th of November with Frontenac, and the course of the 
4 



xl HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY, ETC. 

Mississippi was known in France before the close of 
1682 * 

The next year La Salle himself reached France, and set 
out by sea to reach the mouth of the Mississippi; he never 
again beheld it ; but Tonty seeking him, had again descended 
to the mouth, and it was soon constantly travelled by the 
adventurous trader, and still more adventurous missionary. 
A Spanish vessel under Andrew de Pes, entered the mouth 
soon after; but, on the 2d of March, 1699, the Canadian 
Iberville, more fortunate than La Salle, entered it with 
Father Anastasius Douay, who had accompanied that un- 
fortunate adventurer on his last voyage.f Missionaries from 
Canada soon came to greet him, and La Sueur ascended 
the Mississippi to St. Peter's river, and built a log fort on 
its blue-earth tributary. 

Henceforward all was progress ; we might now trace the 
labors of those who explored each mighty tributary, and 
watch the progress of each rising town; we might follow 
down the first cargo of wheat, or look with the anxiety of 
the day at the first crop of sugar and of cotton; but this 
were to write the history of the Mississippi valley, and we 
undertook only that of its discovery. Our work is done. We 
turn now to trace the life of its first French explorers. 

* The works on La Salle's voyages, besides Hennepin already- 
noticed, are, 1. Etablissement de la Foi, &c., par le P. Chretien Le 
Clercq, Paris, 1691. 2. Der nieres decouvertes, &c., par le Chev. de 
Tonty, Paris, 1697. 3. Journal Historique, &c., par M. Joutel, Paris, 
1713. 

f Historical Collections of Louisiana, vol. Hi., p. 14. 



LIFE 

OF 



FATHER JAMES MARQUETTE, 

OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS, 

FIRST EXPLORER OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 



NEAR a little branch of the river Oise, in the department 
of Aisne, the traveller finds perched on the moun- 
tainside the small but stately city of Laon. Strong fortifi- 
cations without, and a vast cathedral within, show that in 
former days it was one of those cities which were constantly 
replete with life and movement in the endless contests be- 
tween noble and noble, and not unfrequently between the 
suzerain himself and his more powerful vassal. 

The most ancient family in this renowned city, is that of 
Marquette, and in its long annals we find the highest civic 
honors borne almost constantly by members of that illustrious 
race. It already held an important place in the reign of 
Louis the young, and its armorial bearings still com- 
memorate the devotedness of the sieur James Marquette, 
sheriff of Laon, to the cause of his royal master, the unfor- 
tunate John of France, in 1360. 

A martial spirit has always characterized this citizen 
family, and its members have constantly figured in the daz- 



Xlii LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

zling wars of France. Our own republic is not without its 
obligations to the valor of the Marquettes, three of whom 
died here in the French army during the Revolutionary war. 

Yet not their high antiquity nor their reckless valor would 
ever have given the name of Marquette to fame; the un- 
sought tribute which it has acquired among us, is due to the 
labors of one who renounced the enjoyments of country and 
home to devote his days to the civilization and conversion of 
our Indian tribes; who died in the bloom of youth, worn 
down by toil, in a lonely, neglected spot, whose name every 
effort was made to enshrine in oblivion, but who has been 
at last, by the hand of strangers, raised on a lofty pedestal 
among the great, the good, and the holy, who have honored 
our land; the family is known to us only as connected with 
Father James Marquette of the Society of Jesus, the first 
explorer of the Mississippi. 

Born at the ancient seat of his family, in the year 1637, he 
was, through his pious mother Rose de la Salle, allied to the 
venerable John Baptist de la Salle, the founder of the insti- 
tute known as the Brothers of the Christian Schools, whose 
services in the cause of gratuitous education of the poor had 
instructed thousands before any of the modern systems of 
public schools had been even conceived.* From his pious 
mother the youthful Marquette imbibed that warm, gener- 
ous, and unwavering devotion to the mother of God, which 
makes him so conspicuous among her servants. None but 
a mother could have infused such a filial affection for Mary. 

At the age of seventeen his heart, detached from this 
world and all its bright allurements, impelled him to enter 
the Society of Jesus, as he did in the year 1654. When the 

* Devisme Histoire de la Ville de Laon. A member of his 
family, Francis Marquette, founded similar schools for girls, in 
1685, and the religious were commonly called Sceurs Marquette. 



LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. xliii 

two years of self study and examination had passed away, 
he was as is usual with the young Jesuits, employed in teach- 
ing or study, and twelve years glided away in the faithful 
performance of the unostentatious duties assigned him. No 
sooner, however, was he invested with the sacred character 
of the priesthood, than his ardent desire to become in all 
things an imitator of his chosen patron, St. Francis Xavier, 
induced him to seek a mission in some land that knew not 
God, that he might labor there to his latest breath, and die 
unaided and alone. 

The province of Champagne in which he was enrolled con- 
tained no foreign mission: he was transferred to that of 
France, and, in 1666, sailed for Canada. On the 20th of 
September he landed, buoyant with life and health, at Que- 
bec, and amid his brethren awaited the new destination on 
which his superiors should decide.* 

The moment of his arrival was one of deep interest in the 
religious history of a colony, which had in its early settle- 
ment so nobly represented the purest Catholicity, neither 
hampered by civil jealousy, nor unhearted by the cold and 
selfish policy of a pagan age. The halcyon days of the Cana- 
dian church were passing away, but God had raised up one 
to guide and guard his church, that is, in fact, his poor and 
little ones, in the coming struggle with worldliness and 
policy. This was Francis de Laval, who landed at Quebec 
in 1659, with the title of bishop of Petrea, and vicar apos- 
tolic of New France. Gradually he gathered around him a 
few secular priests and began to settle the ecclesiastical 
affairs of the French posts, till then mere missions in the 
hands of the Jesuits. At the period of Marquette's arrival, 
he had already begun to see his diocese assume a regular 

* Jour. Sup. Jes. 



xliv LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

shape, his clergy had increased, his cathedral and seminary 
were rapidly rising. The war with the Iroquois which had 
so long checked the prosperity of the colony, and the hopes 
of the missionaries, was at last brought to a successful issue 
by the efforts of the viceroy de Tracy, and a new field was 
opened for the missions. 

These had always been an object of his deep solicitude; 
the wide west especially was a field which he sighed to pene- 
trate himself, cross in hand, but this could not be. As early 
as 1660, from the new impulse thus given, an Ottawa mis- 
sion was resolved upon, and the veteran Menard, one of the 
last survivors of the old Huron mission, cheered by the part- 
ing words of his holy bishop, embarked to raise the cross 
of Sault St. Mary's, which his companions Jogues and 
Raymbaut had planted twenty years before. He bore it on 
to Keweena bay in Lake Superior, and while full of projects 
for reaching the Sioux on the upper Mississippi, died in the 
woods, a victim of famine or the hatchet of the roving 
Indian. At the time of Marquette's arrival, Father Allouez 
was there exploring parts which no white man had yet 
visited, and as he saw a wide field opening before his view, 
earnestly imploring a new missionary reinforcement. 

Such was the Ottawa mission ; but there were others also. 
Father Jogues thus associated with the earliest western dis- 
coveries, had penetrated into New York, and reddening the 
Mohawk with his life's blood, brought it within the bounds 
of catholicity. From this moment New York was a land 
which each missionary ambitioned; visited successively by 
two more as prisoners, their sufferings and blood confirmed 
the title of the missionaries, and, in 1654, Father Simon le 
Moyne visited Onondaga, and gave the first account of west- 
ern New York. A mission was established the next year, 
and the missionaries explored the whole state from the Hud- 



LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. xlv 

son to the Niagara; but a sudden change took place — a plot 
was formed against the French colony at Onondaga, and 
this first mission was crushed in its infancy, after a brief 
existence of three years. The war which ensued made Can- 
ada itself tremble, and a new mission in New York was not 
even thought of; the attempt to renew that in Michigan is, 
indeed, one of the hardiest undertakings in the annals of the 
Jesuit missions, and a noble monument of their fearless zeal. 
But now the tree of peace was planted, the war-parties had 
ceased, and missionaries hastened to the Iroquois cantons, 
which, for nearly twenty years, were to be so well instructed 
in the truths of Christianity, that even now the catholic 
Iroquois almost outnumber the rest of their countrymen. 

Another great mission of the time was that of the Abnakis, 
in Maine, founded by Druilletes in 1647, an< ^ continued by 
him at intervals until it became at last the permanent resi- 
dence of several zealous men. 

Besides these were the missions of the wandering Algon- 
quins of the river, which centered at Sillery and Three 
Rivers, but had been almost entirely destroyed by the Iro- 
quois after the destruction of the Huron missions and de- 
population of Upper Canada. These expiring missions the 
Jesuits still maintained ; but another and a rj*, field was 
that of the Montagnais, of which Tadoussac was the centre. 
Here at the mouth of that strange river, the Saguenay, which 
pours its almost fathomless tide into the shallower St. Law- 
rence, is the oft-mentioned post of Tadoussac. For a few 
weeks each year, it was a scene of busy, stirring life; Indians 
of every petty tribe from the Esquimaux of Labrador, to the 
Micmac of Nova Scotia, came to trade with the French. 
Here, then, a missionary was always found to instruct them 
as much as time permitted, and when found sufficiently 
acquainted with the mysteries of our faith, to baptize them. 



xlvi LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

The Christian Indian always repaired to this post to fulfil 
the obligations of the church, to lay down the burthen of 
sin, to receive the bread of life, and then depart for the wil- 
derness with his calendar and pin to be able to distinguish 
the Sundays and holydays; and thus amid the snows and 
crags join in the prayers and devotions of the universal 
church. When the trade was over, a new field lay before 
the missionary; the country was to be traversed in every 
direction to carry the light of faith from cabin to cabin, to 
exhort, instruct, confirm. These adventurous expeditions 
through parts still a wilderness, are full of interest, and, 
strange as it may seem, are rife with early notices of our 
western country; they reached from the Saguenay to Hud- 
son's bay, and stretching westward, almost reached Lake 
Superior. 

This mission required one full of life, zeal, and courage, 
and to it Father Marquette was in the first instance destined. 
The Montagnais was the key language to the various tribes, 
and as early as the tenth of October,* we find him starting 
for Three Rivers to begin the study of that language under 
Father Gabriel Druilletes. While thus engaged, his leisure 
hours were of course devoted to the exercise of his ministry, 
and here he remained until April, 1668, when the first 
project was abandoned, and he was ordered to prepare for 
the Ottawa mission, as that of Lake Superior was then 
called. He had by this time acquired also a knowledge of the 
Algonquin, and thus fitted for his new mission, he left Que- 
bec on the 2 1st of April with three companions for Montreal, 
where he was to await the Ottawa flotilla, which was to bear 
him westward. A party of Nezperces came at last, bearing 
Father Nicholas Louis, the companion of Allouez, and with 



* Tour. Sup. Jes. 



LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. xlvti 

them Father Marquette embarked. The journey up the 
Ottawa river, and through French river to Lake Huron, and 
then across that inland sea to Sault St. Mary's, has been too 
often and too vividly described to need repetition here. Its 
toil and danger are associated with the accounts of all the 
early Huron missionaries. 

When he reached Lake Superior, Marquette found that 
the tribes whom fear of the Iroquois had driven to the ex- 
tremity of the lake, were now returning to their former 
abodes. New missions were thus required, and it was 
resolved to erect two, one at S'ault St. Mary's, the other 
in Green Bay. The former was assigned to Father Mar- 
quette, and planting his cabin at the foot of the rapid on the 
American side, he began his missionary career. Here, in 
the following year, he was joined by Father Dablon, as 
superior of the Ottawa missions, and by their united exer- 
tion, a church was soon built; and thus, at last, a sanctuary 
worthy of the faith raised at that cradle of Christianity in 
the west. 

The tribes to which he ministered directly here were all 
Algonquin, and numbered about two thousand souls. They 
showed the greatest docility to his teaching, and would all 
gladly have received baptism, but caution was needed, and 
the prudent missionary contented himself for a time with 
giving them clear, distinct instructions, and with efforts to 
root out all lurking superstitions, conferring the sacrament 
only on the dying. The missionary's first lesson was, " to 
learn to labor and to wait."* 

His stay at the Sault among the Pahwitting-dach-irini, 
Outchibous, Maramegs, &c, was not, however, to be of long 
duration. Father Allouez departed for Green Bay, and a 
missionary was to be sent to Lapointe to continue the dis- 

* Rel. i668-'6g, p. 102. 



xlviii LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

heartening labors of that ungrateful field. Marquette was 
chosen. Without repugnance he set out for his new station 
in the autumn of 1669. We can not better depict his labors 
than by inserting at length the letter descriptive of his mis- 
sion, which he addressed to Father Francis Le Mercier, the 
superior of the missions in the following year. 

" Reverend Father, 

" The Peace of Christ^ 

" I am obliged to render you an account of the mission of 
the Holy Ghost among the Ottawas, according to the orders 
I received from you and again from Father Dablon on my 
arrival here, after a month's navigation on snow and through 
ice which closed my way, and kept me in constant peril of life. 

" Divine Providence having destined me to continue the 
mission of the Holy Ghost begun by Father Allouez, who had 
baptized the chiefs of the Kiskakonk, I arrived there on the 
thirteenth of September, and went to visit the Indians who 
were in the clearings which are divided into five towns. The 
Hurons to the number of about four or five hundred, almost 
all baptized, still preserve some little Christianity. A num- 
ber of the chiefs assembled in council, were at first well 
pleased to see me; but I explained that I did not yet know 
their language perfectly, and that no other missionary was 
coming, both because all had gone to the Iroquois, and be- 
cause Father Allouez, who understood them perfectly, did 
not wish to return that winter, as they did not love the 
prayer enough. They acknowledged that it was a just pun- 
ishment, and during the winter held talks about it, and re- 
solved to amend, as they tell me. 

f For the benefit of investigators of manuscripts I would remark 
that these words, or the letters P. C. and a cross at the top of the 
page, are alone almost sufficient to show a paper to be written by 
one of the Jesuit missionaries. 



LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. xlix 

" The nation of the Outaouaks Sinagaux is far from the 
kingdom of God, being above all other nations addicted to 
lewdness, sacrifices, and juggleries. They ridicule the 
prayer, and will scarcely hear us speak of Christianity. 
They are proud and undeveloped, and I think that so little 
can be done with this tribe, that I have not baptized healthy 
infants who seem likely to live, watching only for such as 
are sick. The Indians of the Kinouche tribe declare openly 
that it is not yet time. There are, however, two men among 
them formerly baptized. One now rather old, is looked upon 
as a kind of miracle among the Indians, having always re- 
fused to marry, persisting in this resolution in spite of all 
that had been said. He has suffered much even from his 
relatives, but he is as little affected by this as by the loss of 
all the goods which he brought last year from the settlement, 
not having even enough left to cover him. These are hard 
trials for Indians, who generally seek only to possess much 
in this world. The other, a new-married young man, seems 
of another nature than the rest. The Indians extremely at- 
tached to their reveries had resolved that a certain number 
of young women should prostitute themselves, each to choose 
such partner as she liked. No one in these cases ever re- 
fuses, as the lives of men are supposed to depend on it. This 
young Christian was called; on entering the cabin he saw 
the orgies which were about to begin, and feigning illness 
immediately left, and though they came to call him back, he 
refused to go. His confession was as prudent as it could be, 
and I wondered that an Indian could live so innocently, and 
so nobly profess himself a Christian. His mother and some 
of his sisters are also good Christians. The Ottawas, ex- 
tremely superstitious in their feasts and juggleries, seem 
hardened to the instructions given them, yet they like to 
have their children baptized. God permitted a woman to die 



1 



LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



this winter in her sin; her illness had been concealed from 
me, and I heard it only by the report that she had asked a 
very improper dance for her cure. I immediately went to a 
cabin where all the chiefs were at a feast, and some Kiska- 
konk Christians among them. To these I exposed the im- 
piety of the woman and her medicine-men, and gave them 
proper instructions. I then spoke to all present, and God 
permitted that an old Ottawa rose to advise, granting what 
1 asked, as it made no matter, he said, if the woman did 
die. An old Christian then rose and told the nation that 
they must stop the licentiousness of their youth, and not per- 
mit Christian girls to take part in such dances. To satisfy 
the woman, some child's play was substituted for the dance; 
but this did not prevent her dying before morning. The 
dangerous state of a sick young man caused the medicine- 
men to proclaim that the devil must be invoked by extraor- 
dinary superstitions. The Christians took no part. The 
actors were these jugglers and the sick man, who was passed 
over great fires lighted in every cabin. It was said that he 
did not feel the heat, although his body had been greased 
with oil for five or six days. Men, women, and children, 
ran through the cabins asking as a riddle to divine their 
thoughts, and the successful guesser was glad to give the 
object named. I prevented the abominable lewdness so com- 
mon at the end of these diabolical rites. I do not think 
they will recur, as the sick man died soon after. 

" The nation of Kiskakons,* which for three years refused 
to receive the gospel preached them by Father Allouez. re- 

* Father Allouez, in the Relation of i668-'6g, does not use the 
term Kiskakon. He calls them Queues coupes, and states that they 
had formerly lived on Lake Huron, where they had been visited 
by the old Huron missionaries, and had been first visited by Me- 
nard on Lake Superior. I add this to my subsequent note on them, 
as it may throw some new light on their original position. 



LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. H 

solved, in the fall of 1668, to obey God. This resolution 
was adopted in full council, and announced to that father 
who spent four winter months instructing them. The chiefs 
of the nation became Christians, and as Father Allouez was 
called to another mission, he gave it to my charge to culti- 
vate, and I entered on it in September, 1669. 

" All the Christians were then in the fields harvesting their 
Indian corn; they listened with pleasure when I told them 
that I came to Lapointe for their sake and that of the Hu- 
rons ; that they never should be abandoned, but be beloved 
above all other nations, and that they and the French were 
one. I had the consolation of seeing their love for the prayer 
and their pride in being Christians. I baptized the new- 
born infants, and instructed the chiefs whom I found well- 
disposed. The head-chief having allowed a dog to be hung 
on a pole near his cabin, which is a kind of sacrifice the 
Indians make to the sun, I told him that this was wrong, 
and he went and threw it down. 

" A sick man instructed, but not baptized, begged me to 
grant him that favor, or to live near him, as he did not wish 
medicine-men to cure him, and that he feared the fires of 
hell. I prepared him for baptism, and frequently visited his 
cabin. His joy at this partly restored his health; he thanked 
me for my care, and soon after saying that I had recalled 
him to life, gave me a little slave he had brought from the 
Uinois two or three months before. 

" One evening, while in the cabin of the Christian where 
I sleep, I taught him to pray to his guardian-angel, and told 
him some stories to show him the assistance they give us, 
especially when in danger of offending God. 1 Now,' said 
he, ' I know the invisible hand that struck me when, since 
my baptism, I was going to commit a sin, and the voice 
that bid me remember that I was a Christian; for I left the 



lii LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

companion of my guilt without committing the sin.' He 
now often speaks of devotion to the angels, and explains it 
to the other Indians. 

" Some young Christian women are examples to the tribe, 
and are not ashamed to profess Christianity. Marriages 
among the Indians are dissolved almost as easily as they are 
made, and then it is no dishonor to marry again. Hearing 
that a young Christian woman abandoned by her husband 
was in danger of being forced to marry by her family, I 
encouraged her to act as a Christian; she has kept her 
word. Not a breath has been uttered against her. This 
conduct, with my remonstrances, induced the husband to 
take her back again at the close of winter, since which time 
she has come regularly to the chapel, for she was too far off 
before. She has unbosomed her conscience to me, and I 
admired such a life in a young woman. 

"The pagans make no feast without sacrifices, and we 
have great trouble to prevent them. The Christians have 
now changed these customs, and to effect it more easily, I 
have retained some, suppressing only what is really bad. 
The feast must open with a speech; they then address God, 
asking him for health and all they need, as they now give 
food to men. It has pleased God to preserve all our Chris- 
tians in health except two children whom they tried to hide, 
and for whom a medicine-man performed his diabolic rites, 
but they died soon after my baptizing them. 

" Having invited the Kiskakons to come and winter near 
the chapel, they left all the other tribes to gather around 
us so as to be able to pray to God, be instructed, and have 
their children baptized. They call themselves Christians; 
hence, in all councils and important affairs, I address them, 
and when I wish to show them that I really wish what I ask, 
I need only address them as Christians; they told me even 



LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. liii 

that they obeyed me for that reason. They have taken the 
upper hand, and control the three other tribes. It is a great 
consolation to a missionary to see such pliancy in savages, 
and thus live in such peace with his Indians, spending the 
whole day in instructing them in our mysteries, and teach- 
ing them the prayers. Neither the rigor of the winter, nor 
the state of the weather, prevents their coming to the chapel ; 
many never let a day pass, and I was thus busily employed 
from morning till night, preparing some for baptism, some 
for confession, disabusing others of their reveries. The 
old men told me that the young men had lost their senses, 
and that I must stop their excesses. I often spoke to them 
of their daughters, urging them to prevent their being 
visited at night. I knew almost all that passed in two tribes 
near us, but though others were spoken of, I never heard 
anything against the Christian women, and when I spoke to 
the old men about their daughters, they told me that they 
prayed to God. I often inculcated this, knowing the im- 
portunities to which they are constantly exposed, and the 
courage they need to resist. They have learned to be mod- 
est, and the French who have seen them, perceive how little 
they resemble the others, from whom they are thus dis- 
tinguished. 

" One day instructing the old people in my cabin, and 
speaking of the creation of the world, and various stories 
from the Old Testament, they told me what they had for- 
merly believed, but now treat as a fable. They have some 
knowledge of the tower of Babel, saying that their an- 
cestors had related that they had formerly made a great 
house, but that a violent wind had thrown it down. They 
now despise all the little gods they had before they were 
baptized : they often ridicule them, and wonder at their stu- 
pidity in sacrificing to these subjects of their fables. 



liv LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

" I baptized an adult after a long trial. Seeing his assi- 
duity at prayer, his frankness in recounting his past life, his 
promises especially with regard to the other sex, and his 
assurance of good conduct, I yielded to his entreaty. He 
has persevered, and since his return from fishing, comes 
regularly to chapel. After Easter, all the Indians dispersed 
to seek subsistence; they promised me that they would not 
forget the prayer, and earnestly begged that a father should 
come in the fall when they assemble again. This will be 
granted, and if it please God to send some father, he will 
take my place, while I, to execute the orders of our father 
superior, will go and begin my Ilinois mission. 

" The Ilinois are thirty days' journey by land from La- 
pointe by a difficult road; they lie south-southwest of it. On 
the way you pass the nation of the Ketchigamins, who live 
in more than twenty large cabins ; they are inland, and seek 
to have intercourse with the French, from whom they hope 
to get axes, knives, and ironware. So much do they fear 
them that they unbound from the stake two Ilinois captives, 
who said, when about to be burned, that the Frenchman had 
declared he wished peace all over the world. You pass then 
to the Miamiwek, and by great deserts reach the Ilinois, who 
are assembled chiefly in two towns, containing more than 
eight or nine thousand souls. These people are well enough 
disposed to receive Christianity. Since Father Allouez spoke 
to them at Lapointe, to adore one God, they have begun to 
abandon their false worship, for they adored the sun and 
thunder. Those seen by me are of apparently good disposi- 
tion; they are not night-runners like the other Indians. A 
man kills his wife, if he finds her unfaithful; they are less 
prodigal in sacrifices, and promise me to embrace Christi- 
anity, and do all I require in their country. In this view, 
the Ottawas gave me a young man recently come from their 



LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. lv 

country, who initiated me to some extent in their language 
during the leisure given me in the winter by the Indians at 
Lapointe. I could scarcely understand it, though there is 
something of the Algonquin in it ; yet I hope by the help of 
God's grace to understand, and be understood if God by his 
goodness leads me to that country. 

" No one must hope to escape crosses in our missions, 
and the best means to live happy is not to fear them, but in 
the enjoyment of little crosses, hope for others still greater. 
The Ilinois desire us, like Indians, to share their miseries, 
and suffer all that can be imagined in barbarism. They are 
lost sheep to be sought amid woods and thorns, especially 
when they call so piteously to be rescued from the jaws of 
the wolf. Such really can I call their entreaties to me this 
winter. They have actually gone this spring to notify the 
old men to come for me in the fall. 

" The Ilinois always come by land. They sow maize 
which they have in great plenty; they have pumpkins as 
large as those of France, and plenty of roots and fruit. The 
chase is very abundant in wild-cattle, bears, stags, turkeys, 
duck, bustard, wild-pigeon, and cranes. They leave their 
towns at certain times every year to go to their hunting- 
grounds together, so as to be better able to resist, if at- 
tacked. They believe that I will spread peace everywhere, 
if I go, and then only the young will go to hunt. 

" When the Ilinois come to Lapointe, they pass a large 
river almost a league wide. It runs north and south, and so 
far that the Ilinois, who do not know what canoes are, have 
never yet heard of its mouth; they only know that there are 
very great nations below them, some of whom raise two 
crops of maize a year. East-south-east of the country is a 
nation they call Chawanon, which came to visit them last 
summer. The young man given me who teaches me the 

5 



Ivi LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

language saw them; they wear beads, which shows inter- 
course with Europeans; they had come thirty days across 
land before reaching their country. This great river can 
hardly empty in Virginia, and we rather believe that its 
mouth is in California. If the Indians who promise to make 
me a canoe do not fail to keep their word, we shall go into 
this river as soon as we can with a Frenchman and this 
young man given me, who knows some of these languages, 
and has a readiness for learning others; we shall visit the 
nations which inhabit it, in order to open the way to so 
many of our fathers, who have long awaited this happiness. 
This discovery will give us a complete knowledge of the 
southern or western sea. 

" Six or seven days below the Hois (sic) is another great 
river (Missouri), on which are prodigious nations, who use 
wooden canoes; we can not write more till next year, if God 
does us the grace to lead us there. 

The Ilinois are warriors; they make many slaves whom 
they sell to the Ottawas for guns, powder, kettles, axes, and 
knives. They were formerly at war with the Nadouessi, but 
having made peace some years since, I confirmed it, to facili- 
tate their coming to Lapointe, where I am going to await 
them, in order to accompany them to their country. 

The Nadouessi are the Iroquois of this country beyond 
Lapointe, but less faithless, and never attack till attacked. 
They lie southwest of the mission of the Holy Ghost, and 
are a great nation, though we have not yet visited them, 
having confined ourselves to the conversion of the Ottawas. 
They fear the Frenchman, because he brings iron into their 
country. Their language is entirely different from the Hu- 
ron and Algonquin ; they have many towns, but they jye 
widely scattered; they have very extraordinary customs; 
they principally adore the calumet; they do not speak at 



LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. Ivii 

great feasts, and when a stranger arrives, give him to eat 
with a wooden fork as we would a child. All the lake tribes 
make war on them, but with small success; they have false 
oats, use little canoes, and keep their word strictly. I sent 
them a present by an interpreter, to tell them to recognize 
the Frenchman everywhere, and not kill him or the Indians 
in his company; that the black-gown wished to pass to the 
country of the Assinipoiiars, to that of the Kilistinaux ; that 
he was already at Outagamis, and that I was going this fall 
to the Ilinois, to whom they should leave a free passage. 
They agreed ; but as for my present waited till all came from 
the chase, promising to come to Lapointe in the fall, to hold 
a council with the Ilinois and speak to me. Would that all 
these nations loved God, as much as they fear the French! 
Christianity would soon flourish. 

" The Assinipoiiars, whose language is almost that of the 
Nadouessi, are toward the west from the mission of the 
Holy Ghost; some are fifteen or twenty days off on a lake 
where they have false oats and abundant fishery. I have 
heard that there is in their country a great river running to 
the western sea, and an Indian told me that at its mouth he 
saw Frenchmen, and four large canoes with sails.* 

" The Kilistinaux are a nomad people, whose rendezvous 
we do not yet know. It is northwest of the mission of the 
Holy Ghost; they are always in the woods, and live solely 
by their bow. They passed by the mission where I was last 
fall in two hundred canoes, coming to buy merchandise and 
corn, after which they go to winter in the woods; in the 
spring I saw them again on the shore of the lake." t 

Such is the substance of his letter as it has reached us, and 
shows us the hopes which Marquette entertained of reaching 

* This is not the first indication of the Columbia, 
t Rel. i66g-'7o, Ottawa part. 



Iviii LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

in the fall of that year, the Ilinois mission to which he had 
been appointed and for which he was now prepared by his 
knowledge of their language. If the Sioux and Ilinois met 
him at Lapointe in the fall, nothing was concluded; and the 
missionary did not begin his overland journey to the lodges 
of the Ilinois. It is not, however, probable that the meeting 
took place; for early in the winter the Sioux, provoked by 
the insolence of the Hurons and Ottawas, declared war, and 
first sent back to the missionaries the pious pictures which 
he had sent them as a present. Their war parties now came 
on in their might, and the Indians of Lapointe trembled be- 
fore the fierce Dahcotah with his knives of stone stuck in 
his belt, and in his long, black hair. In the spring both 
Huron and Ottawa resolved to leave so dangerous a neigh- 
borhood; the latter were the first to launch upon the lake, 
and they soon made their way to Ekaentouton island. Father 
Marquette, whose missionary efforts had been neutralized 
by the unsettled state of his neophytes, and the concentra- 
tion of their thoughts on the all-engrossing war, was now 
left alone with the Hurons. With both he had more to 
suffer than to do ; and now he was at last compelled to leave 
Lapointe, and turn his back on his beloved Ilinois to ac- 
company his Hurons in their wanderings and hardships. 
The remnant of a mighty nation resolved once more to com- 
mit themselves to the waves and seek a new home: with 
their faithful missionary they all embarked in their frail 
canoes, and now for the first time turned toward their an- 
cient home. Fain would they have revisited the scenes of 
Huron power, the land of the fur-lined graves of their an- 
cestors; fain too would the missionary have gone to spend 
his surviving years on the ground hallowed by the blood of 
Daniel, Brebeuf, Lalemant, Gamier, and Chabanel, but the 
power of the Iroquois was still too great to justify the step, 



LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. Hx 

and the fugitives remembering the rich fisheries of Mack- 
inaw, resolved to return to that pebbly strand. 

But who, the reader may ask, were the Hurons with 
whom the missionary's career seems thus linked, yet who 
at first were not the special object of his care. It is a tale 
worthy of an historian. 

The Wendats, whom the French called Hurons and the 
English Wyandots, are a nation of the same stock as the 
Iroquois.* They were one of the first tribes known to the 
French, to whom they always remained closely united. They 
were a trading people, and their many fortified towns lay in 
a very narrow strip on Georgian Bay, a territory smaller 
than the state of Delaware. Between the west and south- 
west lay in the mountains the kindred tribe of the industri- 
ous Tionontates, whose luxuriant fields of tobacco, won them 
from the early French the name of Petuns, while south of 
both from Lake St. Claire to Niagara and even slightly 
beyond were the allied tribes, which from the connection be- 
tween their language and that of the Hurons, were called by 
the latter Atiiwandaronk, but Neutral by the French, from 
their standing aloof in the great war waged by the Iroquois 
against the Hurons and Algonquins. 

No sooner had the French founded Quebec than the Fran- 
ciscan missionaries attempted the conversion of the Hurons. 
Father Joseph Le Caron, the founder of that mission, win- 
tered among them in 1615, and in subsequent years other 
recollects did their best to prepare them for the faith. The 
Jesuits were at last called in by the recollects to aid them, 
and laboring together in harmony, they looked forward with 
sanguine hope to the speedy conversion of the Hurons and 
Neuters, for they, too, were visited, when all their prospects 
were blasted by the English conquest of Canada, in 1629. 

* Champlain {Ed. 1613, p. 238), calls the Hurons les bons Yro- 
quois, as distinguished from the other Yroquois enemies. 



lx LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

On its restoration the French court offered the Canada mis- 
sions to the Capucins, but, on their recommendation, com- 
mitted it to the Jesuits alone. Brebeuf, for the second time, 
reached Upper Canada, and labored zealously on till the 
Huron nation was annihilated by the Iroquois. Twenty-one 
missionaries at different times came to share his toils, and 
of these eight like himself perished by hostile hands, martyrs 
to their faith and zeal, a nobler body of heroes than any other 
part of our country can boast. On the deaths of Brebeuf 
and Gamier, in 1650, the ruin of the Hurons and Petuns 
was consummated. The survivors fled and blended into one 
tribe, soon divided into two great parties, one composed en- 
tirely of Christians, repairing to Quebec to settle on Orleans 
island, whose descendants are still lingering at Lorette; the 
other, part Christians, part pagans, fled at last to Mackinaw, 
but pursued constantly by the Iroquois, they next settled on 
some islands at the mouth of Green Bay, where they seem 
to have been in Menard's time; later still, after roaming to 
the lodges of the Sioux on the Mississippi, they came to 
pitch their cabins by the mission cross planted by Allouez, 
at Chegoimegon,* and here Marquette had found them. 
Such is the tale of their wanderings, till the period of our 
narrative, t 

Mackinaw, where they now rested, was indeed a bleak 
spot to begin a new home; it was a point of land almost 
encompassed by wind-tossed lakes, icy as Siberian waters. 
The cold was intense, and cultivation difficult ; but the waters 
teemed with fish, and the very danger and hardships of their 
capture gave it new zest. Besides this, it was a central point 
for trade, and so additionally recommended to the Huron, 

* Rel 1671-72. 

t Their subsequent wanderings are to Detroit, Sandusky, and at 
last to Indian territory, where the descendants of Marquette's flock 
still exist, the smallest but wealthiest band of deported Indians. 



LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. ixi 

who still, as of old, sought to advance his worldly prospects 
by commerce. 

Stationed in this new spot, Father Marquette's first care 
was to raise a chapel. Rude and unshapely was the first 
sylvan shrine raised by catholicity at Mackinaw; its sides of 
logs, its roof of bark had nothing to impress the senses, 
nothing to win by a dazzling exterior the wayward child of 
the forest; all was as simple as the faith he taught. Such 
was the origin of the mission of St. Ignatius, or Michili- 
mackinac, already in a manner begun the previous year by 
missionary labors on the island of that name.* The Hurons 
soon built near the chapel a palisade fort, less stout and skil- 
ful indeed than the fortresses found in among their kindred 
Iroquois by Cartier and Champlain, but in their declining 
state sufficient for their defence. 

No details of Marquette's labors during the first year have 
reached us; he wrote no letters to recount his wanderings, 
but of the second year we are better informed. An unpub- 
lished manuscript gives us the following letter addressed to 
Father Dablon: — 

" Rev. Father : — 

" The Hurons, called Tionnontateronnons or Petun 
nation, who compose the mission of St. Ignatius at Michili- 
makinong began last year near the chapel a fort enclosing 
all their cabins. They have come regularly to prayers, and 
have listened more readily to the instructions I gave them, 
consenting to what I required to prevent their disorders and 
abominable customs. We must have patience with untutored 
minds, who know only the devil, who like their ancestors 
have been his slaves, and who often relapse into the sins in 
which they were nurtured. God alone can fix these fickle 

* Rel. 1670-' 71, p. 144. 



Ixii LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

minds, and place and keep them in his grace, and touch their 
hearts while we stammer at their ears. 

The Tionnontateronnons number this year three hun- 
dred and eighty souls, and besides sixty Outaouasinagaux 
have joined them. Some of these came from the mission 
of St. Francis Xavier, where Father Andre wintered with 
them last year; they are quite changed from what I saw 
them at Lapointe; the zeal and patience of that missionary 
have gained to the faith those hearts which seemed to us 
most averse to it. They now wish to be Christians; they 
bring their children to the chapel to be baptized, and come 
regularly to prayers. 

" Having been obliged to go to Ste. Marie du Sault with 
Father Allouez last summer, the Hurons came to the chapel 
during my absence as regularly as if I had been there, the 
girls singing what prayers they knew. They counted the 
days of my absence, and constantly asked when I was to be 
back; I was absent only fourteen days, and on my arrival 
all assembled at chapel, some coming even from their fields, 
which are at a very considerable distance. 

" I went readily to their pumpkin-feast, where I instructed 
them, and invited them to thank God, who gave them food 
in plenty, while other tribes that had not yet embraced 
Christianity, were actually struggling with famine. I ridi- 
culed dreams, and urged those who had been baptized to 
acknowledge Him, whose adopted children they were. Those 
who gave the feast, though still idolaters, spoke in high 
terms of Christianity, and openly made the sign of the cross 
before all present. Some young men, whom they had tried 
by ridicule to prevent from doing it, persevered, and make 
the sign of the cross in the greatest assemblies, even when 
I am not present. 

" An Indian of distinction among the Hurons, having in- 



LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. Ixiii 

vited me to a feast where the chiefs were, called them sev- 
erally by name and told them that he wished to declare his 
thoughts, that all might know it, namely, that he was a 
Christian; that he renounced the god of dreams and all 
their lewd dances; that the black-gown was master of his 
cabin; and that for nothing that might happen would he 
forsake his resolution. Delighted to hear this, I spoke more 
strongly than I had ever yet done, telling them that my only 
design was to put them in the way of heaven; that for this 
alone I remained among them; that this obliged me to assist 
them at the peril of my life. As soon as anything is said 
in an assembly, it is immediately divulged through all the 
cabins, as I saw in this case by the assiduity of some in 
coming to prayers, and by the malicious efforts of others 
to neutralize my instructions. 

" Severe as the winter is, it does not prevent the Indians 
from coming to the chapel. Some come twice a day, be the 
wind or cold what it may. Last fall I began to instruct some 
to make general confessions of their whole life, and to pre- 
pare others who had never confessed since their baptism. 
I would not have supposed that Indians could have given 
so exact an account of all that had happened in the course 
of their life; but it was seriously done, as some took two 
weeks to examine themselves. Since then, I have perceived 
a marked change, so that they will not go even to ordinary 
feasts without asking my permission. 

" I have this year baptized twenty-eight children, one of 
which had been brought from Ste. Marie du Sault, without 
having received that sacrament as the Rev. F. Henry Nouvel 
informed me, to put me on my guard. Without my know- 
ing it, the child fell sick, but God permitted that while in- 
structing in my cabin two important and sensible Indians, 
one asked me, whether such a sick child was baptized. I 



Ixiv LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

went at once, baptized it, and it died the next night. Some 
of the other children too are dead, and now in heaven. These 
are the consolations which God sends us, which make us 
esteem our life more happy as it is more wretched. 

" This, rev. father, is all I give about this mission, where 
minds are now more mild, tractable, and better disposed to 
receive instructions, than in any other part. I am ready, 
however, to leave it in the hands of another missionary to go 
on your order to seek new nations toward the south sea who 
are still unknown to us, and to teach them of our great God 
whom they have hitherto unknown."* 

Such was the laborious post to which this talented, yet 
humble missionary condemned himself, daily subjected to 
the caprices of some, the insults and petty persecution of 
others, looking only to another world for the reward of 
labors which, crowned with the most complete success, would 
in the eyes of the world seem unimportant; but "motives 
are the test of merit," and convinced by the studies of riper 
years, no less than by the early teachings of a mother, that 
the baptismal promises were a reality, he sought to open by 
that sacrament the doors of bliss to the dying infant, or 
more aged but repenting sinner. To him the salvation of 
a single soul was more grand and noble than the conquest 
of an empire, and thus borne up, he labored on. 

This letter of which the date is not given, nor the closing 
words, must have been written in the summer of 1672, and 
transmitted to Quebec by the Ottawa flotilla. The same con- 
veyance, doubtless, brought him back the assurance that his 
prayers had been heard, that the government had at last 
resolved to act in the matter, and that he was the missionary 
selected to accompany the expedition. His heart exulted at 

* MS. Rel. 1672-73. 



LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. IxV 

the prospect, though he foresaw the danger to which he was 
exposed, a health already shaken by his toils and hardships, 
a difficult and unknown way, the only nation known — the 
fierce Dahcotah — now hostile to the French and their allies, 
with many another tribe noted in Indian story for deeds of 
blood closed up their path. But this did not alarm him. 
The hope of a glorious martyrdom while opening the way to 
future heralds of the cross, buoyed him up, though in his 
humility he never spoke of martyrdom. To him it was but 
" a death to cease to offend God." 

This now engrossed his thoughts, and he waited with 
anxiety the coming of Jolliet, named to undertake the ex- 
pedition. At last he arrived, and by a happy coincidence on 
the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the blessed Vir- 
gin, " whom," says the pious missionary, " I had always in- 
voked since my coming to the Ottawa country, in order to 
obtain of God the favor of being able to visit the nations on 
the Mississippi river." 

The winter was spent in the necessary arrangements, regu- 
lating the affairs of his mission, which he left, it would 
seem, in the hands of Father Pierson, and in drawing up 
the maps and statements which Indian narrators could en- 
able them to form. At last, on the 17th of May, 1673, 
they embarked in two canoes at Mackinaw, and proceeded 
to Green Bay, whence ascending the Fox river they at last 
reached the Wisconsin by its portage, and glided down to 
the Mississippi. We need not here detail this remarkable 
voyage, the first down the great river, as his whole narrative 
is contained in the volume. Sufficient to say, that with 
Jolliet he descended to the Arkansas, and having thus ascer- 
tained the situation of the mouth, and the perfect naviga- 
bility of the river, reascended it as far as the mouth of the 
Ilinois, into which they turned, and by a portage reached 



Ixvi LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

Lake Michigan, and in September arrived without accident 
at the mission in Green Bay. 

In this voyage he twice met the Peoria tribe of the Ilinois, 
and baptized one dying child at the water's edge, as he left 
them finally. He also passed the Kaskaskia tribe of the 
same nation on the upper waters of the Ilinois, and having 
been already named an Ilinois missionary, he yielded to 
their earnest entreaties, and promised to return and begin 
a mission among them.* He had now reached Green Bay, 
but his health had given way; he was prostrated by disease, 
and was not completely restored before the close of the fol- 
lowing summer. By the Ottawa flotilla of that year he 
transmitted to his superior copies of his journal down the 
Mississippi, and doubtless the map which we now publish. 
The return of the fleet of canoes brought him the necessary 
orders for the establishment of the Ilinois mission; and as 
his health was now restored, he set out on the 25th of Octo- 
ber, 1674, for Kaskaskia. The line of travel at that time 
was to coast along to the mouth of Fox river, then turn up 
as far as the little bay which nearly intersects the peninsula, 
where a portage was made to the lake. This was the route 
now taken by Marquette with two men to aid him, accom- 
panied by a number of Pottawotamies and Ilinois. Reach- 
ing the lake, the canoes coasted along slowly, the missionary 
often proceeding on foot along the beautiful beach, embark- 
ing only at the rivers. He represents the navigation of the 
lake as easy; " there being," says he, " no portage to make, 
and the landing easy, provided you do not persist in sailing 
when the winds and waves are high." The soil except in 
the prairies was poor, but the chase was abundant, and they 
w T ere thus well supplied. 



* See his narrative in this volume. 



LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. lxvii 

In spite of all his courage, he was at last unable to pro- 
ceed; by the 23d of November his malady had returned, and 
though he continued to advance, exposed to the cold and 
snows, when he reached Chicago river on the 4th of Decem- 
ber, he found the river closed, and himself too much reduced 
to be able to attempt that winter march by land. There was 
no alternative but to winter there alone, and accordingly in- 
structing his Indian companions as far as time allowed, 
they went their way, and he remained with his two men at 
the portage. Within fifty miles of them were two other 
Frenchmen, trappers and traders, one of whom was a sur- 
geon at least in name, and still nearer an Illinois village. 
The former had prepared a cabin for the missionary, and 
one came now to visit him, being informed of his ill health; 
the Indians who had also heard it, wished to send a party 
to carry him and all his baggage, fearing that he might 
suffer from want. The good missionary, charmed at their 
solicitude, sent to reassure them on that head, although he 
was forced to tell them that if his malady continued, he 
would find it difficult to visit them even in the spring. 

Alarmed at this, the sachems of the tribe assembled and 
deputed three to visit the blackgown, bearing three sacks of 
corn, dried meat and pumpkins, and twelve beaver-skins; 
first, to make him a mat; second, to ask him for powder; 
third, to prevent his being hungry ; fourth, to get some mer- 
chandise. " I answered them," says Marquette in his last 
letter, " first, that I came to instruct them by speaking of the 
prayer; second, that I would not give them powder, as we 
endeavor to make peace everywhere, and because I did not 
wish them to begin a war against the Miamis ; third, that we 
did not fear famine; fourth, that I would encourage the 
French to bring them merchandise, and that they must make 
reparation to the traders there for the beads taken from 



lxviii LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

them, while the surgeon was with me." The missionary 
then gave them some axes, knives, and trinkets, in return 
for their presents, and as a mark of his gratitude for their 
coming twenty leagues to visit him. Before he dismissed 
them, he promised to make every effort to reach the village, 
were it but for a few days. " On this," says he, " they bid 
me take heart and stay and die in their country, as I had 
promised to remain a long time," and they returned to their 
winter-camps. 

Despairing now of being able to reach his destined goal 
without the interposition of Heaven, the missionary turned 
to the patroness of his mission, the blessed Virgin Immacu- 
late, and with his two companions began a novena in her 
honor. Nor was his trust belied; God heard his prayer, his 
illness ceased, and though still weak, he gradually gained 
strength, and when the opening of the river and the conse- 
quent inundation compelled them to remove, he again re- 
sumed his long interrupted voyage to Kaskaskia, then on 
the upper waters of the Illinois river. 

During this painful wintering, which for all his expres- 
sions of comfort, was one of great hardship and suffering, 
his hours were chiefly spent in prayer. Convinced that the 
term of his existence was drawing rapidly to a close, he con- 
secrated this period of quiet to the exercises of a spiritual 
retreat, in which his soul overflowed with heavenly consola- 
tions, as rising above its frail and now tottering tenement, 
it soared toward that glorious home it was so soon to enter. 

The journal of his last voyage* comes down to the sixth 
of April, when the weather arrested his progress; two days 
after he reached Kaskaskia, where he was received as an 
angel from heaven. It was now Monday in holy week, and 
he instantly began his preliminary instructions, assembling 

* Printed in the appendix of this volume. 



LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. Ixix 

for that purpose the chiefs and old men, and going from 
cabin to cabin where new crowds constantly gathered. When 
he had thus prepared all to understand his meaning and ob- 
ject, he convoked a general assembly in the open prairie on 
Maundy-Thursday, and raising a rustic altar, adorned it 
with pictures of the blessed Virgin, under whose invocation 
he had placed his new mission; he turned to the assembled 
chiefs and warriors, and the whole tribe seated or standing 
around, and by ten presents declared the object of his com- 
ing, and the nature of the faith he bore, explaining the 
principal mysteries of religion, and especially the mystery 
of redemption, the incarnation and death of the Son of God, 
which the church then commemorated. He then celebrated 
mass for the first time in his new mission, and during the 
following days renewed his separate instructions. After 
celebrating the great festival of Easter, his malady began to 
appear once more, and he felt that the period granted to his 
earnest prayers was ended. The sole object to which he had 
for years directed all the aspirations of his heart was now at- 
tained. He had actually begun his Illinois mission; he had 
given them the first rudiments of instruction in public and in 
private; he had twice in their midst offered up the adorable 
sacrifice; there was no more to be asked on earth; he was 
content to die. 

In hopes of reaching his former mission of Mackinaw to 
die with his religious brethren around him, fortified by the 
last rites of the church, he set out escorted to the lake by the 
Kaskaskias, to whom he promised that he, or some other mis- 
sionary should soon resume his labors. 

He seems to have taken the way by the St. Joseph's river, 
and reached the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, along which 
he had not yet sailed. His strength now gradually failed, 
and he was at last so weak that he had to be lifted in and 



Ixx LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

out of his canoe when they landed each night. Calmly and 
cheerfully he saw the approach of death, for which he pre- 
pared by assiduous prayer; his office he regularly recited to 
the last day of his life; a meditation on death, which he had 
long since prepared for this hour, he now made the subject 
of his thoughts; and as his kind but simple companions 
seemed overwhelmed at the prospect of their approaching 
loss, he blessed some water with the usual ceremonies, gave 
his companions directions how to act in his last moments, 
how to arrange his body when dead, and to commit it to the 
earth, with the ceremonies he prescribed. He now seemed 
but to seek a grave; at last perceiving the mouth of a river 
which still bears his name, he pointed to an eminence as the 
place of his burial. 

His companions, Peter Porteret and James , still 

hoped to reach Mackinaw, but the wind drove them back, 
and they entered the river by the channel, where it emptied 
then, for it has since changed. They erected a little bark 
cabin, and stretched the dying missionary beneath it, as 
comfortably as their want permitted them. Still a priest, 
rather than a man, he thought of his ministry, and, for the 
last time, heard the confessions of his companions, and en- 
couraged them to rely with confidence on the protection of 
God, then sent them to take the repose they so much needed. 
When he felt his agony approaching he called them, and 
taking his crucifix from around his neck, he placed it in their 
hands, and pronouncing in a firm voice his profession of 
faith, thanked the Almighty for the favor of permitting him 
to die a Jesuit, a missionary and alone. Then he relapsed 
into silence, interrupted only by his pious aspirations, till 
at last, with the names of Jesus and Mary on his lips, with 
his eyes raised as if in ecstacy above his crucifix, with his 
face all radiant with joy, he passed from the scene of his 



LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. Ixxi 

labors to the God who was to be his reward. Obedient to 
his directions his companions, when the first outbursts of 
grief were over, laid out the body for burial, and to the 
sound of his little chapel-bell, bore it slowly to the point 
which he had pointed out. Here they committed his body to 
the earth, and raising a cross above it, returned to their 
now desolate cabin. 

Such was the edifying and holy death of the illustrious 
explorer of the Mississippi, on Saturday, the 18th of May, 
1675. He was of a cheerful, joyous, disposition, playful 
even in his manner, and universally beloved. His letters 
show him to us a man of education, close observation, sound 
sense, strict integrity, a freedom from exaggeration, and yet 
a vein of humor which here and there breaks out, in spite 
of all his self-command. 

But all these qualities are little compared to his zeal as a 
missionary, to his sanctity as a man. His holiness drew on 
him in life the veneration of all around him, and the lapse of 
years has not even now destroyed it in the descendants of 
those who knew him.* In one of his sanctity, we naturally 
find an all-absorbing devotion to the mother of the Savior, 
with its constant attendants, an angelical love of purity, and 
a close union of the heart with God. It is, indeed, charac- 
teristic of him. The privilege which the church honors under 
the title of the Immaculate Conception, was the constant ob- 
ject of his thoughts; from his earliest youth, he daily recited 
the little office of the Immaculate Conception, and fasted 
every Saturday in her honor. As a missionary, a variety of 
devotions directed to the s§me end still show his devotions 
and to her he turned in all his trials. When he discovered 

* It led to the romantic tales which have even found their way 
into sober history. The missionaries in the west now hear the 
same account as that which Charlevoix believed and inserted. 



6 



lxxii LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

the great river, when he founded his new mission, he gave 
it the name of the Conception, and no letter, it is said, ever 
came from his hand that did not contain the words, " Blessed 
Virgin Immaculate," and the smile that lighted up his dying 
face, induced his poor companions to believe that she had 
appeared before the eyes of her devoted client. 

Like St. Francis Xavier, whom he especially chose as the 
model of his missionary career, he labored nine years for 
the moral and social improvement of nations sunk in pagan- 
ism and vice, and as he was alternately with tribes of varied 
tongues, found it was necessary to acquire a knowledge of 
many American languages; six he certainly spoke with ease; 
many more he is known to have understood less perfectly. 
His death, however, was as he had always desired, more like 
that of the apostle of the Indies ; there is, indeed, a striking 
resemblance between their last moments, and the wretched 
cabin, the desert shore, the few destitute companions, the 
lonely grave, all harmonize in Michigan and Sancian. 

He was buried as he had directed on a rising ground near 
the little river, and a cross raised above his grave showed 
to all the place of his rest. The Indians soon knew it, and 
two years after his death, and almost on the very anniversary 
his own flock, the Kiskakons, returning from their hunt 
stopped there, and with Indian ideas, resolved to disinter 
their father, and bear his revered bones to their mission. At 
once they did so; the bones were placed in a neat box of 
bark, and the flotilla now become a funeral convoy, pro- 
ceeded on its way; the missionary thus accomplishing in 
death the voyage which life had not enabled him to termin- 
ate. A party of Iroquois joined them, and as they advanced 
to Mackinaw, other canoes shot out to meet them with the 
two missionaries of the place, and there upon the waters rose 
the solemn De Profundis, continued till the body reached the 



LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. lxxiii 

land. It was then borne to the church with cross, and 
prayer, and tapers burning like his zeal, and incense rising 
like his aspirations to heaven; in the church a pall had been 
arranged in the usual form for a coffin, and beneath it was 
placed the little box of bark, which was next, after a solemn 
service, deposited in a little vault in the middle of the church, 
" where," says our chronicler, " he reposes as the guardian- 
angel of our Ottawa missions." 

There he still reposes, for I find no trace of any subse- 
quent removal; vague tradition, like that of his death as 
given by Charlevoix and others, would indeed still place him 
at the mouth of his river; but it is certain that he was trans- 
ferred to the church of old Mackinaw, in 1677. This church 
was, as I judge from a manuscript Relation (1675), erected 
subsequent to the departure of Marquette from Mackinaw, 
and probably about 1674. The founding of the post of De- 
troit drew from Mackinaw the Christian Hurons and 
Ottawas, and the place became deserted. Despairing of be- 
ing able to produce any good among the few pagan Indians, 
and almost as pagan coureurs-de-bois who still lingered 
there, the missionaries resolved to abandon the post, and set 
fire to their church in or about the year 1706. Another was 
subsequently erected, but this too has long since dis- 
appeared.* 

The history of his narrative and map are almost as curi- 
ous as that of his body. We have seen that he transmitted 
copies to his superior, and went to his last mission. Fronte- 
nac had promised to send a copy to the government, and in 

* In La Hontan there is a plan of Mackinaw, with the site of 
the church in which Marquette was buried. As to its fidelity, I 
can not speak; but with that of Bellin in 1744, showing the sites 
of the second church at old Mackinaw, and the third one in new 
Mackinaw, the place of the original one, and of Marquette's grave, 
may perhaps be determined. 



Ixxiv LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

all probability he did. At this moment the publication of 
the Jesuit Relations ceases ; though not from choice on their 
part as the manuscript of the year 1672-7$ prepared for the 
press by Father Dablon, still exists; it could not have been 
from any difficulty on the part of the printer, as the an- 
nouncement of the expedition to the Mississippi would have 
given it circulation, even though the journal itself were 
reserved for the next year. To the French government then 
we must attribute the non-publication of further relations, 
the more so, as they neglected to produce the narrative of 
Marquette in their possession. The whole might have fallen 
into perfect oblivion, had not the narrative come into the 
hands of Thevenot who had just published a collection of 
travels; struck with the importance of this, he issued a new 
volume in 1681, called Receuil de Voyages, in which the 
journal of Father Marquette as commonly known, appeared 
with a map of the Mississippi. The narrative is evidently 
taken from a manuscript like that in my hands, in the writ- 
ing of which I can see the cause of some of the strange 
forms which Indian names have assumed. The opening of 
the narrative was curtailed, and occasional omissions made 
in the beginning, few at the end. The map is so different 
from that which still exists in the hand- writing of Father 
Marquette, that it is not probable that it was taken from it. 
With greater likelihood we may believe it to be Jolliet's map 
drawn from recollection, which Frontenac, as his despatch 
tells us, transmitted to France in 1674. If this be so, it has 
a new value as an original map, and not a blundering copy. 
Sparks, in his life of Father Marquette, observes truly of 
this first-published map of the Mississippi, " It was impossible 
to construct it, without having seen the principal objects 
delineated ; " and he adds, " It should be kept in mind that 
this map was published at Paris, in the year 1681, and con- 



LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. lxXV 

sequently the year before the discoveries of La Salle on the 
Mississippi, and that no intelligence respecting the country 
it represents, could have been obtained from any source sub- 
sequently to the voyage of Marquette."* 

Of the narrative itself, he says, " It is written in a terse, 
simple, and unpretending style. The author relates what 
occurs, and describes what he sees without embellishment or 
display. He writes as a scholar, and as a man of careful 
observation and practical sense. There is no tendency to 
exaggerate, nor any attempt to magnify the difficulties he 
had to encounter, or the importance of his discovery. In 
every point of view, this tract is one of the most interesting 
of those, which illustrate the early history of America." 

In spite of all this it was overlooked and nearly forgotten; 
all the writers connected with La Salle's expedition except 
the first edition of Hennepin, published in 1683, speak of 
Jolliet's voyage as a fiction. Marquette they never mention; 
but in Le Clercq and those whom he cites, in the second 
Hennepin, in Joutel, in all in fact, except the faithful Tonty, 
the narrative of Marquette is derided, called a fable, or nar- 
rative of a pretended voyage; and one actually goes so far 
as to say that, sailing up the river with the book in his hand, 
he could not find a word of truth in it. As a necessary re- 
sult of these assertions which few examined, most writers 
in France and elsewhere passed over it, and in works on 
the Mississippi, no discovery prior to that of La Salle is 

* The map in Thevenot had an addition of the editor in the words 
chemin de 1'allee, and chemin du retour. The latter is incorrect, 
but it came from his endeavor to make Father Marquette meet 
the Peorias on his return. He did not know that the villages went 
into a body to hunt, and that the two explorers might thus have 
met them below the Ilinois river, or on it. Other errors on the 
map are easily rectified. The change of the letter gives us Miss- 
cousing, Cachkachkia, Demon (des monts), Pewarea, Allini-wek, 
&c. 



lxxvi LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

mentioned. Even Harris, who cites Marquette by name as 
describing the calumet, and calls him a man of good sense 
and fair character, does not give him due credit as the first 
explorer.* 

" Indeed the services and narrative would hardly have 
escaped from oblivion, had not Charlevoix brought them to 
light in his great work on Canada, nearly seventy years after 
the events."! 

As to the charges themselves, they are clearly refuted by 
Frontenac's despatches. Hennepin, in his Description de la 
Louisiane, (p. 13), and F. Anastasius in Le Clercq (p. 364), 
admit that Jolliet descended the Mississippi below the mouth 
of the Missouri. Membre evidently alludes to his work (p. 
259). Thus even his maligners admit that he was on the 
river, and without the despatches, without the force of its 
publication prior to La Salle's voyage, we need only weigh 
the respective writers by their works. We find in Marquette 
simple narrative, in the others, the declamation of partisans, 
and the disposition to deprive Jolliet and Marquette of the 
honor of reaching the Mississippi at all, though they are 
forced to admit it. 

Meanwhile one of the copies, after having been prepared 
for publication by Father Claude Dablon, superior of the 
mission, with the introductory and supplementary matter in 
the form in which we now give it, lay unnoticed and un- 
known in the archives of the Jesuit college at Quebec. It 
did not even fall into the hands of Father Charlevoix when 
collecting material for his history, for he seems to have 
made little research if any into the manuscripts at the college 

* Vol ii., p. 351. On the preceding page he has a summary, but 
just condemnation of Hennepin and Lahontan. 

f And even he misdates the time of its publication. Thevenot's 
edition, of which Harvard possesses a copy, was issued in 1681, 
not 1687. 



LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. lxXVli 

of Quebec. A few years after the publication of his work, 
Canada fell into the hands of England, and the Jesuits and 
Recollects, as religious orders, were condemned, the recep- 
tion of new members being positively forbidden. The mem- 
bers of each order now formed Tontints, the whole property, 
on the death of the last survivor, to go to the British gov- 
ernment, or to the law knows whom, if situated in the 
United States. 

The last survivor of the Jesuits, Father Cazot, after be- 
holding that venerable institution, the college of Quebec 
closed for want of professors, and Canada deprived of its 
only and Northern America of its oldest collegiate seat of 
learning, felt at last that death would soon close with him 
the Society of Jesus in Canada. A happy forethought for the 
historic past induced him to wish to commit to other than 
to state hands, some objects and documents regarded as 
relics by the members of his society. Of these he made a 
selection, unfortunately too moderate and too rapid, and 
these papers he deposited in the Hotel Dieu, or hospital at 
Quebec, an institution destined to remain, as the nuns who 
directed it had not fallen under the ban of the government. 
They continued in their hands from shortly before 1800 till 
1844, when the faithful guardians of the trust presented 
them to the Rev. F. Martin, one of the Jesuit fathers who 
returned in 1842 to the scene of the labors and sacrifices of 
their society. On v the application of Mr. B. F. French to 
publish the narrative of Marquette in his Historical Collec- 
tions, and apply the proceeds, and such other sums as might 
be received, to the erection of a monument to the great dis- 
coverer of the Mississippi, the manuscript journal and map 
were committed to the hands of the writer of these sketches. 

This narrative is a very small quarto, written in a very 
clear hand, with occasional corrections, comprising in all, 



lxxviii LIFE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

sixty pages. Of these, thirty-seven contain his voyage down 
the Mississippi, which is complete except a hiatus of one leaf 
in the chapter on the calumet ; the rest are taken up with the 
account of his second voyage, death and burials, and the 
voyage of Father Allouez. The last nine lines on page 60, 
are in the hand-writing of Father Dablon, and were written 
as late as 1678. 

With it were found the original map in the hand-writing 
of Father Marquette, as published now for the first time, and 
a letter begun but never ended by him, addressed to Father 
Dablon, containing a journal of the voyage on which he died, 
beginning with the twenty-sixth of October, (1674), and 
running down to the sixth of April. The endorsements on 
it, in the same hand as the direction ascribe, the letter to 
Father Marquette ; and a comparison between it, the written 
parts of the map, and a signature of his found in a parish 
register at Boucherville, would alone without any knowledge 
of its history, establish the authenticity of the map and letter. 



NOTICE ON THE SIEUR JOLLIET. 



After so extended a notice on Father Marquette, it 
would seem unjust to say nothing of his illustrious compan- 
ion in his great voyage. It would be doubly interesting to 
give a full account of Jolliet, as he was a native of the coun- 
try, but unfortunately our materials are scanty and our no- 
tices vague. 

Neither his birthplace nor its epoch has, as far as the 
present writer knows, been ascertained. His education he 
owed to the Jesuit college of Quebec, where, unless I am 
mistaken, he was a class-mate of the first Canadian who was 
advanced to the priesthood. Jolliet was thus connected with 
the Jesuits, and apparently was an assistant in the college. 
After leaving them, he proceeded to the west to seek his for- 
tune in the fur-trade. Here he was always on terms of inti- 
macy with the missionaries, and acquired the knowledge and 
experience which induced the government to select him as 
the explorer of the Mississippi. 

This choice was most agreeable to the missionaries, and 
he and Marquette immortalized their names. They explored 
the great river, and settled all doubts as to its course. On 
his return Jolliet lost all his papers in the rapids above Mon- 
treal, and could make but a verbal report to the government. 
This, however, he reduced to writing, and accompanied with 
a map drawn from recollection. On the transmission of 



1XXX NOTICE ON THE SIEUR JOLLIET. 

these to France, he, doubtless, expected to be enabled to 
carry out such plans as he had conceived, and to profit to 
some extent by his great discovery. But he was thrown 
aside by more flattered adventurers. The discoverer of 
Mississippi was rewarded as if in mockery with an island 
in the gulf of St. Lawrence. This was Anticosti, and here 
Jolliet built a fort and a dwelling for his family, and houses 
for trade. They were not, however, destined to be a source 
of emolument to him. His labors were devoted also to other 
fields. Thus we find him, in 1689, in the employment of 
the government, rendering essential services in the west. 

Two years after his island was taken by the English fleet, 
and he himself, with his wife and mother-in-law, probably 
while attempting to reach Quebec, fell into the hands of 
Phipps, the English commander. His vessel and property 
were a total loss, but his liberty he recovered, when the Eng- 
lish retired from the walls of Quebec. 

Of his subsequent history there are but occasional traces, 
and we know only that he died some years prior to 1737. 

Authorities: Charlevoix, La Hontan, vol. i., p. 323; ii., p. 10. MS. 
Journal of the Superior of the Jesuits. Bouchett's Topograph. Die. 
Canada. Titles: Anticosti and Jolliet. 



RELATION 

OF THE 

VOYAGES, DISCOVERIES, AND DEATH, 

OF 

FATHER JAMES MARQUETTE 

AND 

THE SUBSEQUENT VOYAGES OF FATHER CLAUDIUS ALLOUEZ, 

BY 

FATHER CLAUDIUS DABLON, 

SUPERIOR OF THE MISSIONS OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS, IN NEW FRANCE. 

PREPARED FOR PUBLICATION IN 1678. 



NOTICE ON FATHER DABLON. 



Father Claudius Dablon came to Canada in 1655, and was imme- 
diately sent to Onondaga, where he continued with but one short 
interval of absence till the mission was broken up in 1658. Three 
years after, he and the hardy Druilletes attempted to reach Hud- 
son's bay, by the Saguenay, but were arrested at the sources of 
the Nekouba by Iroquois war-parties. In 1668, he followed Father 
Marquette to Lake Superior, became superior of the Ottawa mis- 
sion, founded Sault St. Mary's, visited Green Bay, and reached the 
Wisconsin with Allouez, then returned to Quebec to assume his 
post as superior of all the Canada missions. This office he held 
with intervals for many years, certainly till 1693, and he was still 
alive, but not apparently superior in the following year. As the 
head of the missions, he contributed in no small degree to their 
extension, and above all, to the exploration of the Mississippi, by 
Marquette. He published the Relations of 16JO-JI, and '72, with 
their accurate map of Lake Superior, and prepared for press those 
of 1672-73 and i673-'79, which still remain in manuscript, and the 
following narratives of Marquette and Allouez. The period of his 
death is unknown. 

His writings are the most valuable collection on the topography 
of the northwest, which have come down to our days. 



THE 

VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES 

OF 

FATHER JAMES MARQUETTE, 

IN 

THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 



CHAPTER I. 

OF THE FIRST VOYAGE MADE BY FATHER MARQUETTE TOWARD NEW MEXICO, 
AND HOW THE DESIGN WAS CONCEIVED. 

FATHER MARQUETTE had long projected this enter- 
prise, impelled by his ardent desire of extending the 
kingdom of Jesus Christ, and of making him known and 
adored by all the nations of that country. He beheld him- 
self, as it were, at the door of these new nations, when, in 
1670, he was laboring at the mission of Lapointe du St. 
Esprit,* which is at the extremity of the upper Lake of the 
Ottawas. He even saw at times many of those new tribes, 
concerning whom he gathered all the information that he 
could. This induced him to make several efforts to under- 
take the enterprise, but always in vain; he had even given 

* This place is now called simply Lapointe, as the lake is called 
Superior, retaining only the first word of its former name, Lac 
Superieur aux Outaoiiacs. 



4 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



up all hopes of succeeding, when the Almighty presented 
him the following opportunity : — 

In 1673, the Comte de Frontenac,* our governor and Mr. 
Talon then our intendant, knowing the importance of this 
discovery, either to seek a passage from here to the China 
sea by the river which empties into the California- or Red 
sea,t or to verify what was afterward said of the two king- 
doms of Theguaio and Quivira, which border on Canada, 
and where gold mines are, it is said abundant, % these gen- 

* Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac, succeeded M. de Cour- 
celles in the government of Canada, in 1672. M. Talon, the wise 
and energetic intendant of the colony, seeing the advantages to be 
derived to France from the discovery of the Mississippi river, im- 
mediately, on the arrival of Comte de Frontenac, laid before him 
his plan for exploring that river, which was adopted, and the ad- 
ministration of Frontenac is signalized by the first exploration of 
the Mississippi by Marquette and Jollyet, between the Wisconsin 
and Arkansas, and by the subsequent voyage of La Salle, who con- 
tinued the survey to the gulf, while his companion, Hennepin, visited 
the portion between the Wisconsin and St. Anthony's falls. But 
before the return of La Salle, Comte de Frontenac's term had 
expired, and he was, in 1682, succeeded by M. Lefebore de la Barre. 
But he was afterward reinstated governor of Canada in 1689, and 
died at the age of seventy-seven. He was a brave and ambitious 
man, and to his wise administration may be attributed the consoli- 
dation of French power in North America. — F. 

t The gulf of California was called by the Spaniards Mar de 
Cortes, or more commonly Mar Bermejo, from its resemblance 
in shape and color to the Red sea. Gomara, His de las Indias, p. 
12. Cluvier, Introductio. Venegas, Historia de la California. Clavi- 
gero, Storia della California, p. 29. In ignorance of this fact, the 
French translated Bermejo by Vermeille, and English writers Ver- 
million. 

t Theguaio, or commonly Tiguex, and sometimes apparently 
Tejas, and Quivira, were two kingdoms as to which the imagination 
of the Spaniards, and especially of the Mexicans, had become so 
aroused that Feijoo in his Teatro Critic 0 includes them in the cate- 
gory of fabled lands, St. Brandon's Isle, the Eldorado, &c, although 
he admits that he hesitated as he found Quivira mentioned by every 
geographer. These two kingdoms which lay east of the country 
north of the river Gila, and are probably the present New Mexico 
and Texas, were first made known by the attempt of a Franciscan 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 5 

tlemen, I say, both at the same time selected for the enter- 
prise the Sieur Jollyet, whom they deemed competent for so 
great a design, wishing to see Father Marquette accompany 
him.* 

They were not mistaken in their choice of the Sieur 
Jollyet, for he was a young man, born in this country, and 
endowed with every quality that could be desired in such 
an enterprise. He possessed experience and a knowledge of 
the languages of the Ottawat country, where he had spent 
several years ; he had the tact and prudence so necessary for 
the success of a voyage equally dangerous and difficult; and, 
lastly, he had courage to fear nothing where all is to be 

missionary to reach the rich countries of the interior which had 
been spoken of by Cabeza de Vaca. The missionary in question, 
Fray Marc, a native of Nice in Italy, crossed the Gila, and from the 
well-built houses and cotton dresses of the people, easily gave 
credit to the accounts of more wealthy tribes. A subsequent ex- 
pedition showed that he had been mistaken, and none but hardy 
missionaries sought to penetrate to the fabled land. The belief of 
its mineral wealth was, however, too deeply rooted to be easily 
shaken, and the discovery of California's resources in our days has 
justified it, and shown that Talon in seeking to reach California 
from Canada, attempted no chimerical project. 

* It would seem by this wording that Marquette was not officially 
chosen for the expedition. The troubles at the time between the 
civil and ecclesiastical authorities will account for this, while the 
researches made by Marquette as to the river, and his knowledge 
of the Indians and their dialects, rendered it important that he 
should be one of the party. That his account alone survived, and 
that it was published in his name, was something neither expected 
nor intended by any of those concerned, as Ml Jollyet had pre- 
pared an account of the expedition, the loss of which, as stated 
in the text, alone raised the journal of Father Marquette to its 
present degree of importance. (In 1680, the French government 
rewarded the Sieur Jollyet for this eminent service by a grant of 
the island of Anticosti, in the gulf of St. Lawrence; and, in 1697, 
by the seignory of Jollyet, in Beauce county, Canada, which is now 
the property of the Hon. T. Taschereau, one of the judges of the 
court of King's bench.) 

t The Ottawas, or Outaoiiacs, were first called by the French, 
Cheveux Releves, and placed on Great Manitouline. — Champlain, 



6 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



feared. He accordingly fulfilled the expectations enter- 
tained of him, and if, after having passed through dangers 
of a thousand kinds, he had not unfortunately been wrecked 
in the very harbor — his canoe having upset below the Saut 
St. Louis, near Montreal, where he lost his men and papers, 
and only escaped by a kind of miracle with his life — the 
success of his voyage had left nothing to be desired. 

262, Segard, 201. Their Indian name is then given in the form, 
Andatahouats. The earlier Jesuit Relations call them Ondatawawak, 
and Bressani, Ondawawat. Under the form Outaoiiacs (Utta- 
wax), it was applied as a general term to all the Algonquin tribes 
on Lake Superior and Michigan who traded with the French. The 
English in the same way applied to them the name of the tribe 
which they called Chippeways, and the French, Outchibouec, which 
is still more diversified by the new spelling Ojibwa, introduced by 
Schoolcraft. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 



7 



SECTION I. 

DEPARTURE OF FATHER JAMES MARQUETTE FOR THE DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT 
RIVER, CALLED BY THE INDIANS MISSISIPI, WHICH LEADS TO NEW MEXICO. 

The day of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed 
Virgin, whom I had always invoked since I have been in 
this Ottawa country, to obtain of God the grace to be able 
to visit the nations on the river Missisipi,* was identically 
that on which M. Jollyet arrived with orders of the Comte 
de Frontenac, our governor, and M. Talon, our intendant, 
to make this discovery with me. I was the more enraptured 
at this good news, as I saw my designs on the point of being 
accomplished, and myself in the happy necessity of exposing 
my life for the salvation of all these nations, and particularly 
for the Ilinois, who had, when I was at Lapointe du St. 
Esprit, very earnestly entreated me to carry the word of God 
to their country. 

* The name of this river is derived from the Algonquin language 
one of the original tongues of our continent. It was spoken by 
every tribe from the Chesapeake to the gulf of St. Lawrence, and 
running westward to the Mississippi and Lake Superior. The Ab- 
nakis, Montagnais, Algonquins proper, Ottawas, Nipissings, Nez- 
perces, Illinois, Miamis, Sacs, Foxes, Mohegans, Delawares, Shaw- 
nees and Virginia Indians, as well as the minor tribes of New Eng- 
land, all spoken dialects of this widespread language. The only 
exception in this vast strip of territory, was the Huron-Iroquois 
language, spoken by the Hurons, Petuns, Neuters, and Iroquois, 
which is distinct from the Algonquin. The word Mississippi is a 
compound of the word Missi, signifying great, the Sepe, a river. 
The former is variously pronounced Missil, or Michil, as in Michili- 
mackinac; Michi, as in Michigan; Missu, as in Missouri; and Missi, 
as in Mississippi. The word Sipi may be considered as the English 
pronunciation, derived through the medium of the French, or Sepe, 
and affords an instance of an Indian term of much melody, being 
corrupted by Europeans, into one that has a harsh and hissing 
sound. — F. 



7 



8 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



We were not long in preparing our outfit, although we 
were embarking on a voyage the duration of which we could 
not foresee. Indian corn, with some dried meat, was our 
whole stock of provisions. With this we set out in two bark 
canoes,* M. Jollyet, myself, and five men, firmly resolved to 
do all and suffer all for so glorious an enterprise. 

It was on the 17th of May, 1673, that we started from the 
mission of St. Ignatius at Michilimakinac,t where I then 
was. Our joy at being chosen for this expedition roused our 
courage, and sweetened the labor of rowing from morning 
till night. As we were going to seek unknown countries, we 
took all possible precautions, that, if our enterprise was haz- 
ardous, it should not be foolhardy : for this reason we gath- 
ered all possible information from Indians who had fre- 
quented those parts, and even from their accounts traced a 
map of all the new country, marking down the rivers on 
which we were to sail, the names of the nations and places 
through which we were to pass, the course of the great river, 
and what direction we should take when we got to it. 

* The two frail canoes which bore these adventurous travellers 
from the snows of Canada to the more genial clime of the Ar- 
kansas, were constructed entirely different from those wood canoes 
with which the Indians navigated the Hudson, and the Delaware, 
and which we still occasionally see in use among our western 
tribes. The Canadian canoe made use of in this expedition, was 
built of birch-bark, cedar splints, and ribs of spruce roots, covered 
with yellow pine pitch, so light and so strong, that they could be 
carried across portages on the shoulders of four men, and paddled 
at the rate of four miles per hour in smooth water. For river 
navigation, where there are no rapids or portages, nothing could 
be better adapted for explorations; and they were used in subse- 
quent expeditions to explore the Missouri, St. Peter's, Columbia, 
and Mackenzie rivers. — F. 

t This is not the island, but the point north of it in the present 
county of that name. (Charlevoix.) The mission was subsequently 
on the south, if we credit Charlevoix's maps, and finally on the 
island of that name. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 9 

Above all, I put our voyage under the protection of the 
Blessed Virgin Immaculate, promising her, that if she did 
us the grace to discover the great river, I would give it the 
name of Conception; and that I would also give that name 
to the first mission which I should establish among these new 
nations, as I have actually done among the Ilinois.* 



SECTI ON II. 

THE FATHER VISITS BY THE WAY THE WILD OATS TRIBES. — WHAT THESE 
WILD OATS ARE. — HE ENTERS THE BAY OF THE FETID. — SOME PARTICULARS 
AS TO THIS BAY. — HE REACHES THE FIRE NATION. 

With all these precautions, we made our paddles play 
merrily over a part of Lake Huron and that of the Ilinois 
into the Bay of the Fetid. 

The first nation that we met was that of the Wild Oats.f 
I entered their river to visit them, as we have preached the 

* The name which the pious missionary gave to the Mississippi, 
is found only here, and on the accompanying map, which corre- 
sponds perfectly with his narrative. The name of the Immaculate 
Conception, which he gave to the mission among the Kaskaskias, 
was retained as long as that mission lasted, and is now the title 
of the church in the present town of Kaskaskia. Although his wish 
was not realized in the name of the great river, it has been fulfilled 
in the fact that the Blessed Virgin, under the title of the Immaculate 
Conception, has been chosen by the prelates of the United States 
assembled in a national council, as the patroness of the whole 
country, so that not only in the vast valley of the Mississippi, but 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the Blessed Virgin Immaculate 
is as dear to every American Catholic, as is Our Lady of Guadaloupe 
to our Mexican neighbors. 

t This plant, the Zizania Aquatic a, of Linn., is perennial and forms 
the principal food of most of the northwestern tribes. It is called 
in English, wild rice; and in French, Folles-Avoine, or wild oats. 
It was first accurately described in the Rel. 1662-63, apparently from 
Menard's Letters. The tribe here alluded to are the Oumalouminik, 
Malhominies or Menomonees, whose river still shows their locality. 
— Rel 1672-73. MS. 



IO NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

gospel to these tribes for some years past, so that there are 
many good Christians among them. 

The wild oats, from which they take their name, as they 
are found in their country, are a kind of grass which grows 
spontaneously in little rivers with slimy bottoms, and in 
marshy places ; they are very like the wild oats that grow up 
among our wheat. The ears are on stalks knotted at inter- 
vals; they rise above the water about the month of June, 
and keep rising till they float about two feet above it. The 
grain is not thicker than our oats, but is as long again, so 
that the meal is much more abundant. 

The following is the manner in which the Indians gather 
it and prepare it for eating. In the month of September, 
which is the proper time for this harvest, they go in canoes 
across these fields of wild oats, and shake the ears on their 
right and left into the canoe as they advance; the grain falls 
easily if it is ripe, and in a little while their provision is 
made. To clear it from the chaff, and strip it of a pellicle 
in which it is enclosed, they put it to dry in the smoke on a 
wooden lattice, under which they keep up a small fire for 
several days. When the oats are well dried, they put them in 
a skin of the form of a bag, which is then forced into a hole 
made on purpose in the ground; they then tread it out so 
long and so well, that the grain being freed from the chaff 
is easily winnowed; after which they pound it to reduce it 
to meal, or even unpounded, boil it in water seasoned with 
grease, and in this way, wild oats are almost as palatable 
as rice would be when not better seasoned. 

I informed these people of the Wild Oats of my design of 
going to discover distant nations to instruct them in the 
mysteries of our Holy Religion; they were very much sur- 
prised, and did their best to dissuade me. They told me, 
that I would meet nations that never spare strangers, but 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. II 

tomahawk them without any provocation; that the war 
which had broken out among various nations on our route, 
exposed us to another evident danger — that of being killed 
by the war-parties which are constantly in the field ; that the 
Great River is very dangerous, unless the difficult parts are 
known ; that it was full of frightful monsters who swallowed 
up men and canoes together ; that there is even a demon there 
who can be heard from afar, who stops the passage and en- 
gulfs all who dare approach; lastly, that the heat is so ex- 
cessive in those countries, that it would infallibly cause our 
death. 

I thanked them for their kind advice, but assured them 
that I could not follow it, as the salvation of souls was con- 
cerned; that for them, I should be too happy to lay down 
my life; that I made light of their pretended demon, that 
we would defend ourselves well enough against the river- 
monsters; and, besides, we should be on our guard to avoid 
the other dangers with which they threatened us. After 
having made them pray and given them some instruction, I 
left them, and, embarking in our canoes, we soon after 
reached the extremity of the Bay of the Fetid, where our 
Fathers labor successfully in the conversion of these tribes, 
having baptized more than two thousand since they have 
been there. 

This bay bears a name which has not so bad a meaning 
in the Indian language, for they call it rather Salt Bay 
than Fetid Bay, although among them it is almost the same, 
and this is also the name which they give to the sea. This 
induced us to make very exact researches to discover whether 
there were not in these parts some salt springs, as there 
are among the Iroquois, but we could not find any.* We 

* The tribe called by the French, Puants, were the Ouenibegouc, 
our Winnebagoes. Rel. 1672-7Z, MS. Dela Potherie, vol ii., p. 



12 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



accordingly concluded that the name has been given on ac- 
count of the quantity of slime and mud there, constantly 
exhaling noisome vapors which cause the loudest and longest 
peals of thunder that I ever heard. 

The bay is about thirty leagues long, and eight wide at its 
mouth; it narrows gradually to the extremity, where it is 
easy to remark the tide which has its regular flow and ebb, 
almost like that of the sea. This is not the place to examine 
whether they are real tides, whether they are caused by the 
winds, or by some other age; whether there are winds, out- 
riders of the moon, or attached to her suite, who conse- 
quently agitate the lake and give it a kind of flow and ebb, 
whenever the moon rises above the horizon. What I can 

48. In the Relation of 1636, they are called Aweatsiwaenrrhonons, 
which, as the termination shows was their name among the Hu- 
rons. Charlevoix, on what ground I know not, calls them Otcha- 
gras. As Marquette justly remarks, their name signified salt, rather 
than Fetid, and they are undoubtedly the Gens de mer discovered 
by the adventurous Nicolet three hundred leagues west of the 
Hurons, several years prior to his death, in 1642. — Rel. i642-'43, p. 
8. Indeed, the dislike of the Indians to salt was so great, that they 
confounded the two terms. When Father Le Moyne visited Onon- 
daga, he heard of a spring in which there was a devil that made 
it fetid ; it was, in fact, a salt spring. So too the accounts of the 
death of the heroic missionaries Brebeuf and Lalemant shows that 
the Iroquois detected in the flesh of the latter, who had recently 
left European food, traces of salt which they disliked, and they 
showed their disgust in the additional torture they inflicted. All 
this establishes the identity of the terms fetid and salt, and con- 
firms what is stated in the Relation of i6S3~'54, and by Bressani in 
his Breve Relatione, that the Winnebagoes were so called, because 
they came from the fetid water or ocean, which was then said to 
be nine days' journey to the west. In point of fact, the Winne- 
bagoes are a branch of the Dahcota family, which advancing further 
east than the rest, became cut off from them and surrounded by 
Algonquins. Hence, the very name comes in to confirm the philo- 
logical researches which connect them with the Tartars. The bay 
called formerly Baie des Puants, or La Grande Baie, has now be- 
come Green Bay, and the town of that name is near the site of 
the old mission of St. Francis Xavier founded in 1670. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 3 

certainly aver is, that when the water is quite tranquil, you 
can easily see it rise and fall with the course of the moon, 
although I do not deny that this movement may be caused 
by distant winds, which pressing on the centre of the lake, 
make it rise and fall on the shore in the way that meets our 
eyes.* 

We left this bay to enter a riverf emptying into it. It is 
very beautiful at its mouth, and flows gently; it is full of 
bustards, duck, teal, and other birds, attracted by the wild 
oats of which they are very fond; but when you have ad- 
vanced a little up this river, it becomes very difficult, both 
on account of the currents and of the sharp rocks which cut 
the canoes and the feet of those who are obliged to drag 
them, especially when the water is low. For all that we 
passed the rapids safely, and as we approached Machkoutens, 
the Fire nation, I had the curiosity to drink the mineral 
waters of the river which is not far from this town. I also 
took time to examine an herb, the virtue of which an Indian, 
who possessed the secret, had, with many ceremonies, made 
known to Father Allouez. Its root is useful against the 
bite of serpents, the Almighty having been pleased to give 
this remedy against a poison very common in the country. 
It is very hot, and has the taste of powder when crushed be- 
tween the teeth. It must be chewed and put on the bite 

* The last opinion now prevails, and the tides of the lake which 
have been so much discussed, are now ascribed to the action of the 
winds, although Charlevoix supposed it was owing to the springs 
at the bottom of the lakes, and to the shock of their currents, with 
those of the rivers, which fall into them from all sides, and thus 
produce those intermitting motions. 

t The Fox river, of Green Bay, is about 260 miles in length. 
The portage between the head waters of this river and the Wis- 
consin (Meskonsing), is over a level plain, and during high water, 
canoes frequently pass over the lowest parts of the prairie from one 
river to the other. — F. 



14 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

of the serpent. Snakes have such an antipathy to it, that 
they fly from one rubbed with it. It produces several stalks 
about a foot long, with pretty long leaves, and a white 
flower, much like the gillyflower.* I put some into my 
canoe to examine it at leisure, while we kept on our way to- 
ward Maskoutens, where we arrived on the 7th of June. 



SECTION III. 

DESCRIPTION OF THE VILLAGE OF MASKOUTENS. — WHAT TRANSPIRED BETWEEN 

THE FATHER AND THE INDIANS. THE FRENCH BEGIN TO ENTER A NEW 

AND UNKNOWN COUNTRY, AND REACH THE MISSISSIPPI. 

Here we are then at Maskoutens. This word in Algon- 
quin, may mean Fire nation,f and that is the name given to 

* This plant is called by the French, "Serpent-a-Sonnettes," and 
is an infallible remedy against the poison of snakes. The root is 
commonly reduced to a powder, which the Indians chew, or make 
a poultice of, which prevents the poisjon from taking effect. It 
may be taken in water with the same effect. It has a nauseous 
smell, and is always avoided by snakes. If two or three drops are 
put into a snake's mouth, it immediately dies.- — F. 

f Father Marquette who was a good Algonquin scholar, does not 
speak positively as to the meaning of Maskoutens, though from his 
use of the common interpretation, he evidently favored it. Charle- 
voix, indeed, treats this as an error, and says, that Mascoutenec 
means a prairie, but on the meaning of an Indian name a traveller 
is more apt to err than one habituated to the country and its dia- 
lects. Certain it is that, from the earliest times, there dwelt on 
Lake Michigan a tribe known to the Indians of Canada by the name 
of Fire Indians. Their Huron name was Asistagueronons, from 
asista (fire). The lay beyond the Puants, says the early historian, 
Brother Sagard (p. 201). Under the same name, Atsistaehronons, 
they are mentioned by Father Brebeuf (Rel. i640-'4i, p. 48), as the 
enemies of the tribes called by the French the Neutral Nation, who 
lay chiefly north of Lake Erie, between Ontario and Lake St. Clair. 
Now as the peninsula between Detroit and Lake Michigan was not 
inhabited by any Indian tribe, the Assistae must have dwelt beyond 
Lake Michigan, in the territory where we afterward find a tribe 
called by the Algonquins, Maskoutench, or Nation of Fire. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 5 

them. This is the limit of the discoveries made by the 
French, for they have not yet passed beyond it. 

This town is made up of three nations gathered here, Mi- 
amis, Maskoutens, and Kikabous. The first are more civil, 
liberal, and better made; they wear two long ear-locks, 
which give them a good appearance; they have the name of 
being warriors and seldom send out war parties in vain; they 
are very docile, listen quietly to what you tell them, and 
showed themselves so eager to hear Father Allouez when he 
was instructing them, that they gave him little rest, even at 
night. The Maskoutens and Kikabous are ruder and more 
like peasants, compared to the others. 

As bark for cabins is rare in this country, they use rushes, 
which serve them for walls and roof, but which are no great 
shelter against the wind, and still less against the rain when 
it falls in torrents. The advantage of this kind of cabins is 
that they can roll them up, and carry them easily where they 
like in hunting-time. 

When I visited them, I was extremely consoled to see a 
beautiful cross planted in the midst of the town, adorned 
with several white skins, red belts, bows and arrows, which 
these good people had offered to the Great Manitou (such is 
the name they give to God) to thank him for having had 
pity on them during the winter, giving them plenty of game 
when they were in greatest dread of famine. 

I felt no little pleasure in beholding the position of this 
town; the view is beautiful and very picturesque, for from 
the eminence on which it is perched, the eye discovers on 
every side prairies spreading away beyond its reach, inter- 
spersed with thickets or groves of lofty trees.* The soil is 
very good, producing much corn; the Indians gather also 

* This narrative abounds with sketches of scenery and Indian 
localities that would grace the artist's pencil. — F. 



1 6 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

quantities of plums and grapes, from which good wine could 
be made, if they chose. 

No sooner had we arrived than M. Jollyet and I assembled 
the sachems ; he told them that he was sent by our governor 
to discover new countries, and I, by the Almighty, to illu- 
mine them with the light of the gospel ;* that the Sovereign 
Master of our lives wished to be known by all nations, and 
that to obey his will, I did not fear death, to which I exposed 
myself in such dangerous voyages; that we needed two 
guides to put us on our way, these, making them a present, 
we begged them to grant us. This they did very civilly, and 
even proceeded to speak to us by a present, which was a mat 
to serve us as a bed on our voyage. 

The next day, which was the tenth of June, two Miamis 
whom they had given us as guides, embarked with us, in the 
sight of a great crowd, who could wonder enough to see 
seven Frenchmen alone in two canoes, dare to undertake so 
strange and so hazardous an expedition. 

We knew that there was, three leagues from Maskoutens, 
a river emptying into thef Missisipi ; we knew too, that the 
point of the compass we were to hold to reach it, was the 
west-south-west; but the way is so cut up by marshes and 
little lakes, that it is easy to go astray, especially as the 
river leading to it is so covered with wild oats, that you can 
hardly discover the channel. Hence, we had good need of 
our two guides, who led us safely to a portage of twenty- 
seven hundred paces, and helped us to transport our canoes 

* The missionaries were careful to avoid all appearance of a 
worldly or national mission. Most of those in our northern parts 
were French; but though they planted the cross on many a moun- 
tain and valley, history can not tell us the place where they carved 
the "Lilies of the Bourbon." In fact, they never did. 

f Father Marquette, however, never uses the article with Missi- 
sipi, Pekitanoiii, and other names of rivers. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 7 

to enter this river, after which they returned, leaving us 
alone in an unknown country, in the hands of Providence. 

We now leave the waters which flow to Quebec, a distance 
of four or five hundred leagues, to follow those which will 
henceforth lead us into strange lands. Before embarking, 
we all began together a new devotion to the Blessed Virgin 
Immaculate, which we practised every day, addressing her 
particular prayers to put under her protection both our per- 
sons and the success of our voyage. Then after having en- 
couraged one another, we got into our canoes. The river 
on which we embarked is called Meskousing; it is very broad, 
with a sandy bottom, forming many shallows, which render 
navigation very difficult. It is full of vine-clad islets. On 
the banks appear fertile lands diversified with wood, prairie, 
and hill. Here you find oaks, walnut, whitewood, and an- 
other kind of tree with branches armed with long thorns. 
We saw no small game or fish, but deer and moose* in con- 
siderable numbers. 

Our route was southwest, and after sailing about thirty 
leagues, we perceived a place which had all the appearances 
of an iron mine, and in fact, one of our party who had seen 
some before, averred that the one we had found was very 
good and very rich. It is covered with three feet of good 
earth, very near a chain of rock, whose base is covered with 
fine timber. After forty leagues on this same route, we 

* The French word here is vaches, which has been generally- 
translated bison, or buffalo. This is clearly a mistake; they had 
not yet reached the buffalo ground and the missionary afterward 
describes the animal when he meets it. The animal called by the 
Canadian French, vache sauvage, was the American elk, or moose. — 
Rel. 1656-57. Boucher, Hist. Nat. Canada. — Nat. Hist, of N. Y., Art. 
" Moose." Boucher expressly states, that buffaloes were found only 
in the Ottawa country, that is, in the far west, while the vache 
sauvage, or original, and ane sauvage, or caribou, were seen in 
Canada. 



1 8 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

reached the mouth of our river, and finding ourselves at 
42y 2 ° N., we safely entered the Missisipi* on the 17th of 
June, with a joy that I can not express. 



SECTION IV. 

OF THE GREAT RIVER CALLED MISSISIPI. — ITS MOST STRIKING PECULIARITIES. 
— VARIOUS ANIMALS, AND PARTICULARLY THE PISIKIOUS OR WILD CATTLE. 
— THE FORM AND DISPOSITION. — THE FIRST ILLINOIS VILLAGES REACHED 
BY THE FRENCH. 

Here then we are on this renowned river, of which I 
have endeavored to remark attentively all the peculiarities. 
The Missisipi river has its source in several lakesf in the 
country of the nations to the north ; it is narrow at the mouth 
of the Miskousing; its current, which runs south, is slow and 
gentle; on the right is a considerable chain of very high 
mountains, and on the left fine lands; it is in many places 
studded with islands. On sounding, we have found ten 
fathoms of water. Its breadth is very unequal : it is some- 
times three quarters of a league, and sometimes narrows in 
to three arpents (220 yards). We gently follow its course, 

* This latitude is nearly correct. Prairie du Chien is in north 
latitude 43 0 3'. The mouth of the Wisconsin or, as he writes it,' 
Meskousing, is distant one hundred and eighty miles from the 
portage. Above this it can be ascended ninety miles, and is then 
connected by short portages with the Ontonagon and Montreal rivers 
of Lake Superior. The Wisconsin country was subsequently in- 
habited by the Sacs and Foxes, but they were afterward driven 
away by the Chippeways and French. — F. 

f It would appear from this remark, that the source of the Mississippi 
river which is now ascertained to be in Itasca lake, and more than 
three thousand miles from the gulf of Mexico, was then perfectly well- 
known to the northwestern tribes. — F. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. IO, 

which bears south and southeast till the forty-second degree. 
Here we perceive that the whole face is changed; there is 
now almost no wood or mountain, the islands are more beau- 
tiful and covered with finer trees; we see nothing but deer 
and moose, bustards and wingless swans, for they shed their 
plumes in this country. From time to time we meet mon- 
strous fish, one of which struck so violently against our 
canoe, that I took it for a large tree about to knock us 'to 
pieces.* Another time we perceived on the water a monster 
with the head of a tiger, a pointed snout like a wild-cat's, a 
beard and ears erect, a grayish head and neck all black, f 
We saw no more of them. On casting our nets, we have 
taken sturgeon and a very extraordinary knd of fish;{ It re- 
sembles a trout with this difference, that it has a larger 
mouth, but smaller eyes and snout. Near the latter is a large 
bone, like a woman's busk, three fingers wide, and a cubit 
long; the end is circular and as wide as the hand. In leap- 
ing out of the water the weight of this often throws it back. 

Having descended as far as 41 ° 28', following the same 
direction, we find that turkeys have taken the place of game, 
and the pisikous,§ or wild cattle, that of other beasts. We 

* This was probably the cat fish of the Mississippi (Silurus Missis- 
sippiensis) . They sometimes grow enormously large, and strike with 
great force any object that comes in their way. — F. 

f Probably an American tiger-cat, the "pichou du sud" of Kalm. 
They differ from those of Africa and South America, because they have 
no spots. — F. 

t The "polyodon spatula" of Linn. It is now very rare, and but 
seldom found in the Mississippi. It is also called by the French, " le 
spatule." — F. 

§ This animal was first made known by Coronado's expedition to 
Cibola, in 1540. That commander proceeded as far as the Rio Grande 
from the gulf of California, in search of the realms of Quivira. His 
greatest discovery was that of the bison plains, and this peculiarly 
American animal. From the first object of his expedition Cibola, a 
town on the Gila, the animal received among Spanish writers the same 



20 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



call them wild cattle, because they are like our domestic 
cattle ; they are not longer, but almost as big again, and more 
corpulent; our men having killed one, three of us had con- 
siderable trouble in moving it. The head is very large, the 
forehead flat and a foot and a half broad between the horns, 
which are exactly like those of our cattle, except that they 
are black and much larger. Under the neck there is a kind 
of large crop hanging down, and on the back a pretty high 
hump. The whole head, the neck, and part of the shoulders, 

name. Boucher, in his natural history of Canada, calls it the buffalo, 
and Father Marquette, who was the first Frenchman to reach the 
bison range, gives here its Indian name pisikiou, but I do not find that 
the name was ever adopted. The term wild-cattle, bceufs sauvages, was 
generally used by the French, as buffalo was later by the English 
settlers, till the term bison, used by Pliny, was applied exclusively to 
this species. The buffalo has a clumsy gait like the domestic ox. Un- 
like the ox, however, it exhibits no diversity of color, being a uniform 
dark brown, inclining to dun. It is never spotted with black, red, or 
white. It has short, black horns, growing nearly straight from the 
head, and set at a considerable distance apart. The male has a hunch 
upon its shoulders covered with long flocks of shaggy hair, extending 
to the top of the head from which it falls over the eyes and horns, 
giving him a very formidable appearance. The hoofs are cloven like 
those of the cow. The tail is naked, toward the end, where it is 
tufted, in the manner of the lion. The Indians employ both the rifle 
and the arrow to hunt it, and in the prairies of Missouri and Arkansas, 
they pursue them on horseback; but on the upper Mississippi, where 
they are destitute of horses, they make use of several ingenious strata- 
gems. One of the most common of these, is the method of hunting 
them with fire. The buffaloes have a great dread of fire, and retire 
toward the center of the prairie as they see it approach, then being 
pressed together in great numbers, the Indians rush in with their arrows 
and musketry, and slaughter immense numbers in a few hours. Few 
animals of the American forest contribute more to the comforts of sav- 
age life. The skin is dressed to supply them with clothing and blankets. 
The tallow is an article of commerce. The tongue is a delicate article 
of food, and the flesh, when dried after their manner, serves them for 
bread and meat. The buffalo is generally found between 31 0 and 49 0 
north latitude, and west of the Mississippi. South of 31 0 north latitude, 
the buffalo is not found; but its place is supplied in Mexico by the 
wild-ox, without a hunch, which is considered of European origin. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 21 

are covered with a great mane like a horse's; it is a crest a 
foot long, which renders them hideous, and falling over their 
eyes, prevents their seeing before them. The rest of the 
body is covered with a coarse curly hair like the wool of our 
sheep, but much stronger and thicker. It falls in summer, 
and the skin is then as soft as velvet. At this time the In- 
dians employ the skins to make beautiful robes, which they 
paint of various colors; the flesh and fat of the Pisikious are 
excellent, and constitute the best dish in banquets. They 
are very fierce, and not a year passes without their killing 
some Indian. When attacked, they take a man with their 
horns, if they can, lift him up, and then dash him on the 
ground, trample on him, and kill him. When you fire at 
them from a distance with gun or bow, you must throw 
yourself on the ground as soon as you fire, and hide in the 
grass; for, if they perceive the one who fired, they rush on 
him and attack him. As their feet are large and rather short, 
they do not generally go very fast, except when they are irri- 
tated. They are scattered over the prairies like herds of 
cattle. I have seen a band of four hundred. 

We advanced constantly, but as we did not know where 
we were going, having already made more than a hundred 
leagues without having discovered anything but beasts and 
birds, we kept well on our guard. Accordingly we make 
only a little fire on the shore at night to prepare our meal, 
and after supper keep as far off from it as possible, 
passing the night in our canoes, which we anchor in 
the river pretty far from the bank. Even this did not 
prevent one of us being always as a sentinel for fear of 
a surprise. 

Proceeding south and south-southwest, we find ourselves 
at 41 0 north; then at 40 0 and some minutes, partly by south- 
east and partly by southwest, after having advanced more 



22 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

than sixty leagues since entering the river, without discov- 
ering anything. 

At last, on the 25th of June, we perceived footprints of 
men by the water-side, and a beaten path entering a beautiful 
prairie. We stopped to examine it, and concluding that it 
was a path leading to some Indian village, we resolved to go 
and reconnoitre; we accordingly left our two canoes in 
charge of our people, cautioning them strictly to beware of 
a surprise; then M. Jollyet and I undertook this rather haz- 
ardous discovery for two single men, who thus put them- 
selves at the discretion of an unknown and barbarous people. 
We followed the little path in silence, and having advanced 
about two leagues, we discovered a village on the banks of 
the river, and two others on a hill, half a league from the 
former.* Then, indeed, we recommended ourselves to God, 
with all our hearts ; and having implored his help, we passed 
on undiscovered, and came so near that we even heard the 
Indians talking. We then deemed it time to announce our- 
selves, as we did by a cry, which we raised with all our 
strength, and then halted without advancing any further. At 
this cry the Indians rushed out of their cabins, and having 
probably recognised us as French, especially seeing a black 
gown,f or at least having no reason to distrust us, seeing 
we were but two, and had made known our coming, they 
deputed four old men to come and speak with us. Two car- 

* These villages are laid down on the map on the westerly side of 
the Mississippi, and the names of two are given, Peouarea and Moing- 
wena, whence it is generally supposed that the river on which they lay, 
is that now called the Desmoines. The upper part of that river still 
bears the name of Moingonan, while the latitude of the mouth seems 
to establish the identity. It must, however, be admitted that the latitude 
given at that day differs from ours generally from 30' to a degree, as 
we see in the case of the Wisconsin and Ohio. This would throw 
Moingwena somewhat higher up. 

f This is the well-known Indian name for the Jesuits. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 23 

ried tobacco-pipes well-adorned, and trimmed with many 
kinds of feathers. They marched slowly, lifting their pipes 
toward the sun, as if offering them to him to smoke, but yet 
without uttering a single word. They were a long time 
coming the little way from the village to us. Having reached 
us at last, they stopped to consider us attentively. I now took 
courage, seeing these ceremonies, which are used by them 
only with friends, and still more on seeing them covered 
with stuffs, which made me judge them to be allies. I, there- 
fore, spoke to them first, and asked them, who they were; 
" they answered that they were Ilinois and, in token of 
peace, they presented their pipes to smoke. They then in- 
vited us to their village where all the tribe awaited us with 
impatience. These pipes for smoking are called in the coun- 
try calumets,* a word that is so much in use, that I shall be 
obliged to employ it in order to be understood, as I shall 
have to speak of it frequently. 



SECTION V . 

HOW THE ILINOIS RECEIVED THE FATHER IN THEIR VILLAGE. 

At the door of the cabin in which we were to be received, 
was an old man awaiting us in a very remarkable posture; 
which is their usual ceremony in receiving strangers. This 
man was standing, perfectly naked, with his hands stretched 
out and raised toward the sun, as if he wished to screen him- 
self from its rays, which nevertheless passed through his 
fingers to his face. When we came near him, he paid us 

* We are probably indebted to Father Marquette for the addition to 
our language of this word. 

8 



24 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

this compliment : " How beautiful is the sun, O Frenchman, 
when thou comest to visit us! All our town awaits thee, 
and thou shalt enter all our cabins in peace." He then took 
us into his, where there was a crowd of people, who devoured 
us with their eyes, but kept a profound silence. We heard, 
however, these words occasionally addressed to us : " Well 
done, brothers, to visit us ! " 

As soon as we had taken our places, they showed us the 
usual civility of the country, which is to present the calumet. 
You must not refuse it, unless you would pass for an enemy, 
or at least for being impolite. It is, however, enough to pre- 
tend to smoke. While all the old men smoked after us to 
honor us, some came to invite us on behalf of the great sa- 
chem of all the Ilinois to proceed to his town, where he 
wished to hold a council with us. We went with a good 
retinue, for all the people who had never seen a Frenchman 
among them could not tire looking at us : they threw them- 
selves on the grass by the wayside, they ran ahead, then 
turned and walked back to see us again. All this was done 
without noise, and with marks of a great respect entertained 
for us. 

Having arrived at the great sachem's town, we espied him 
at his cabin-door, between two old men, all three standing 
naked, with their calumet turned to the sun. He harangued 
us in few words, to congratulate us on our arrival, and then 
presented us his calumet and made us smoke; at the same 
time we entered his cabin, where we received all their usual 
greetings. Seeing all assembled and in silence, I spoke to 
them by four presents which I made : by the first, I said that 
we marched in peace to visit the nations on the river to the 
sea : by the second, I declared to them that God their Crea- 
tor had pity on them, since, after their having been so long 
ignorant of him, he wished to become known to all nations; 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 25 

that I was sent on his behalf with this design ; that it was for 
them to acknowledge and obey him : by the third, that the 
great chief of the French informed them that he spread peace 
everywhere, and had overcome the Iroquois. Lastly, by the 
fourth, we begged them to give us all the information they 
had of the sea, and of the nations through which we should 
have to pass to reach it. 

When I had finished my speech, the sachem rose, and lay- 
ing his hand on the head of a little slave, whom he wa9 
about to give us, spoke thus : " I thank thee, Blackgown, and 
thee, Frenchman," addressing M. Jollyet, " for taking so 
much pains to come and visit us; never has the earth been 
so beautiful, nor the sun so bright, as to-day; never has our 
river been so calm, nor so free from rocks, which your 
canoes have removed as they passed; never has our tobacco 
had so fine a flavor, nor our corn appeared so beautiful as 
we behold it to-day. Here is my son, that I give thee, that 
thou mayst know my heart. I pray thee to take pity on me 
and all my nation. Thou knowest the Great Spirit who has 
made us all ; thou speakest to him and hearest his word : ask 
him to give me life and health, and come and dwell with 
us, that we may know him." Saying this, he placed the little 
slave near us and made us a second present, an all-mysterious 
calumet, which they value more than a slave; by this present 
he showed us his esteem for our governor, after the account 
we had given of him; by the third, he begged us, on behalf 
of his whole nation, not to proceed further, on account of 
the great dangers to which we exposed ourselves. 

I replied, that I did not fear death, and that I esteemed 
no happiness greater than that of losing my life for the glory 
of Him who made all. But this these poor people could not 
understand. 

The council was followed by a great feast which consisted 



26 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

of four courses, which we had to take with all their ways; 
the first course was a great wooden dish full of sagamity, 
that is to say, of Indian meal boiled in water and seasoned 
with grease. The master of ceremonies, with a spoonful of 
sagamity, presented it three or four times to my mouth, as 
we would do with a little child; he did the same to M. Jollyet. 
For the second course, he brought in a second dish contain- 
ing three fish ; he took some pains to remove the bones, and 
having blown upon it to cool it, put it in my mouth, as we 
would food to a bird; for the third course, they produced a 
large dog,* which they had just killed, but learning that we 
did not eat it, it was withdrawn. Finally, the fourth course 
was a piece of wild ox, the fattest portions of which were 
put into our mouths. 

After this feast we had to visit the whole village, which 
consists of full three hundred cabins. While we marched 
through the streets, an orator was constantly haranguing, to 
oblige all to see us without being troublesome; we were 
everywhere presented with belts, garters, and other articles 
made of the hair of the bear and wild cattle, dyed red, yellow, 
and gray. These are their rareties; but not being of conse- 
quence, we did not burthen ourselves with them. 

We slept in the sachem's cabin, and the next day took 
leave of him, promising to pass back through his town in 
four moons. He escorted us to our canoes with nearly six 
hundred persons, who saw us embark, evincing in every pos- 
sible way the pleasure our visit had given them. On taking 
leave, I personally promised that I would return the next 

* The dog among all Indian tribes is more valued and more esteemed 
than by any people of the civilized world. When they are killed for 
a feast, it is considered a great compliment, and the highest mark of 
friendship. If an Indian sees fit to sacrifice his faithful companion to 
give to his friend, it is to remind him of the solemnity of his pro- 
fessions. — F. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 2.J 

year to stay with them, and instruct them. But before 
leaving the Ilinois country, it will be well to relate what I 
remarked of their customs and manners. 



SECTION VI. 

CHARACTER OF THE ILINOIS. — THEIR MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. — THEIR 
ESTEEM OF THE CALUMET, OR TOBACCO-PIPE, AND THEIR DANCE IN ITS 
HONOR. 

To say Ilinois is, in their language, to say " the men," as 
if other Indians compared to them were mere beasts. And 
it must be admitted that they have an air of humanity* that 

* " The Ilinois," as described by Father Marest in a letter to Father' 
Germon, from the village " of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy 
Virgin, Cascasquias, November 9, 1712," " are much less barbarous than 
the other Indians. Christianity, and their intercourse with the French, 
have by degrees somewhat civilized them. This is particularly re- 
marked in our village, of which the inhabitants are almost all Chris- 
tians, and has brought many French to establish themselves here, three 
of whom we have recently married to Ilinois women. These Indians 
are not at all wanting in wit; they are naturally curious, and are able 
to use raillery in a very ingenious way. The chase and war are the 
sole occupations of the men, while the rest of the labor falls upon the 
women and girls. They are the persons who prepare the ground for 
sowing, do the cooking, pound the corn, build the wigwams, and carry 
them on their shoulders in their journeys. These wigwams are con- 
structed of mats made of platted reeds, which they have the skill to* 
sew together in such a way that the rain can not penetrate them when 
they are new. Besides these things, they occupy themselves in manu- 
facturing articles from buffaloes' hair, and in making bands, belts, and 
sacks; for the buffaloes here are very different from our cattle in 
Europe. Besides having a large hump on the back by the shoulders, 
they are also entirely covered with a fine wool, which our Indians 
manufacture instead of that which they would procure from sheep, if 
they had them in the country. 

"The women, thus occupied and depressed by their daily toils, are 
more docile to the truths of the gospel. This, however, is not the case 
at the lower end of the Missisipi, where the idleness which prevails 



28 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



we had not remarked in the other nations that we had seen 

on the way. The short stay I made with them did not permit 

among persons of that sex gives opportunity for the most fearful dis- 
orders, and removes them entirely from the way of safety. 

" It would be difficult to say what is the religion of our Indians. It 
consists entirely in some superstitions with which their credulity is 
amused. As all their knowledge is limited to an acquaintance with 
brutes, and to the necessities of life, it is to these things also that all 
their worship is confined. Their medicine-men, who have a little more 
intellect than the rest, gain their respect by their ability to deceive them. 
They persuade them that they honor a kind of spirit, to whom they 
give the name of Manitou, and teach them that it is this spirit which 
governs all things, and is master of life and of death. A bird, a buffalo, 
a bear, or rather the plumage of these birds, and the skin of these 
beasts — such is their manitou. They hang it up in their wigwams, and 
offer to it sacrifices of dogs and other animals. 

" The braves carry their manitous in a mat, and unceasingly invoke 
them to obtain the victory over their enemies. Their medicine-men 
have in like manner recourse to their manitous when they compose their 
remedies, or when they attempt to cure the diseased. They accompany 
their invocations with chants, and dances, and frightful contortions, to 
induce the belief that they are inspired by their manitous; and at the 
same time they thus aggravate their diseases, so that they often cause 
death. During these different contortions, the medicine-man names 
sometimes one animal, and sometimes another, and at last applies him- 
self to suck that part of the body in which the sick person perceives 
the pain. After having done so for some time, he suddenly raises him- 
self and throws out to him the tooth of a bear, or of some other animal, 
which he had kept concealed in his mouth. ' Dear friend,' he cries, ' you 
will live. See what it was that was killing you ! ' After which he says, 
in applauding himself: 'Who can resist my manitou? Is he not the 
one who is the master of life ? ' If the patient happens to die, he im- 
mediately has some deceit ready prepared, to ascribe the death to some 
other cause which took place after he had left the sick man. But if, on 
the contrary, he should recover his health, it is then that the medicine- 
man receives consideration, and is himself regarded as a manitou ; and 
after having well rewarded his labors, they procure the best that the 
village produces to regale him. 

"The influence which these kinds of jugglers have, places a great 
obstacle in the way of the conversion of the Indians. By embracing 
Christianity, they expose themselves to their insults and violence. It is 
only a month ago that a young Christian girl experienced this treat- 
ment Holding a rosary in her hand, she was passing before the wig- 
wam of one of these impostors. He had imagined that the sight of a 
similar chaplet had caused the death of his father; and being trans- 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 20/ 

me to acquire all the information I would have desired. The 
following is what I remarked in their manners. 

ported with fury, he took his gun, and was on the point of firing at 
this poor neophyte, when he was arrested by some Indians who hap- 
pened to be present. 

" I can not tell you how many times I have received the like insults 
from them, nor how many times I should have expired under their 
blows, had it not been for the particular protection of God, who has 
preserved me from their fury. On one occasion, among others, one of 
them would have split my head with his hatchet, had I not turned at 
the very time that his arm was raised to strike me. Thanks to God, our 
village is now purged from these impostors. The care which we have 
ourselves taken of the sick, the remedies we have given them, and which 
have generally produced a cure, have destroyed the credit and reputa- 
tion of these medicine-men, and forced them to go and establish them- 
selves elsewhere. 

" There are, however, some among them who are not so entirely 
brutal, and with whom we can sometimes talk, and endeavor to dis- 
abuse them of the vain confidence they have in their manitous; but it 
is not ordinarily with much success. A conversation which one of our 
fathers had with one of these medicine-men will enable you to under- 
stand the extent of their obstinacy on this point, and also what ought 
to be the condescension of a missionary in attempting even to refute 
opinions as extraordinary as those with which they are here met. 

" The French had established a fort on the river Ouabache : they 
asked for a missionary, and Father Mermet was sent to them. This 
father thought that he should also labor for the conversion of the 
Mascoutens, who had formed a settlement on the banks of the same 
river, a tribe of Indians who understood the Ilinois language, but whose 
extreme attachment to the superstitions of their medicine-men rendered 
them exceedingly indisposed to listen to the instructions of the mis- 
sionary. 

" The course which Father Mermet took was, to confound in their 
presence one of their medicine-men, who worshipped the buffalo as 
his grand manitou. After having insensibly led him to confess that it 
was not by any means the buffalo which he worshipped, but a manitou 
of the buffalo, which is under the earth — which animates all the buffaloes, 
and which gives life to their sick — he asked him whether the other 
beasts, as the bears, for example, which his comrades worshipped, were 
not equally animated by a manitou which is under the earth. 'Cer- 
tainly,' replied the medicine-man. ' But if this be so/ said the mission- 
ary, 'then men ought also to have a manitou which animates them.' — 
' Nothing can be more certain,' said the medicine-man. ' That is suf- 
ficient for me,' replied the missionary, 'to convict you of having but 
little reason on your side ; for if man who is on the earth be the master 



3° 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



They are divided into several villages, some of which are 
quite distant from that of which I speak, and which is called 

of all the animals — if he kills them, if he eats them — then it is neces- 
sary that the manitou which animates the men should also be the master 
of all the other manitous. Where is, then, your wisdom, that you do 
not invoke him who is the master of all the others ? ' This reasoning 
disconcerted the medicine-man, but this was the only effect which it 
produced, for they were not less attached than before to their ridiculous 
superstitions. 

" At that same time a contagious disease desolated their village, and 
each day carried off many of the Indians; the medicine-men them- 
selves were not spared, and died like the rest. The missionary thought 
that he would be able to win their confidence by his attention to the 
care of the sick, and therefore applied himself to it without intermission ; 
but his zeal very often came near costing him his life. The services 
which he rendered to them were repaid only by outrages. There were 
even some who proceeded to the extremity of discharging their arrows 
at him, but they fell at his feet ; it may be that they were fired by hands 
which were too feeble, or because God, who destined the missionary for 
other labors, had wished to withdraw him at that time from their fury. 
Father Mermet, however, was not deterred from conferring baptism on 
some of the Indians, who requested it with importunity, and who died 
a short time after they had received it. 

" Nevertheless, their medicine-men removed to a short distance from 
the fort, to make a great sacrifice to their manitou. They killed nearly 
forty dogs, which they carried on the tops of poles, singing, dancing and 
making a thousand extravagant gestures. The mortality, however, did 
not cease, for all their sacrifices. The chief of the medicine-men then 
imagined that their manitou, being less powerful than the manitou of 
the French, was obliged to yield to him. In this persuasion he many 
times made a circuit around the fort, crying out with all his strength: 
'We are dead; softly, manitou of the French, strike softly — do not 
kill us all ! ' Then, addressing himself to the missionary : ' Cease, good 
manitou, let us live ; you have life and death in your possession : leave 
death — give us life ! ' The missionary calmed him, and promised to take 
even more care of the sick than he had hitherto done; but notwith- 
standing all the care he could bestow, more than half in the village died. 

" To return to our Ilinois : they are very different from these Indians, 
and also from what they formerly were themselves. Christianity, as I 
have already said, has softened their savage customs, and their manners 
are now marked by a sweetness and purity which have induced some 
of the French to take their daughters in marriage. We find in them, 
moreover, a docility and ardor for the practice of Christian virtues. 
The following is the order we observe each day in our mission: Early 
in the morning we assemble the catechumens at the church, where they 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 



3* 



Peouarea. This produces a diversity in their language which 
in general has a great affinity to the Algonquin, so that we 

have prayers, they receive instructions, and chant some canticles. When 
they have retired, mass is said, at which all the Christians assist, the 
men placed on one side and the women on the other; then they have 
prayers, which are followed by giving them a homily, after which each 
one goes to his labor. We then spend our time in visiting the sick, to 
give them the necessary remedies, to instruct them, and to console those 
who are laboring under any affliction. 

" After noon the catechising is held, at which all are present, Chris- 
tians and catechumens, men and children, young and old, and where 
each, without distinction of rank or age, answers the questions put by 
the missionary. As these people have no books, and are naturally indo- 
lent, they would shortly forget the principles of religion if the re- 
membrance of them was not recalled by these almost continual instruc- 
tions. Our visits to their wigwams occupy the rest of the day. 

" In the evening, all assemble again at the church, to listen to the in- 
structions which are given, to say prayers, and to sing some hymns. On 
Sundays and festivals we add to the ordinary exercises, instructions 
which are given after the vespers. The zeal with which these good 
neophytes repair to the church at all such hours is admirable : they break 
off from their labors, and run from a great distance, to be there at the 
appointed time. They generally end the day by private meetings which 
they hold at their own residences, the men separately from the women, 
and there they recite the rosary in alternate choirs, and chant the hymns, 
until the night is far advanced. These hymns are their best instruc- 
tions, which they retain the more easily, since the words are set to airs 
with which they are acquainted, and which please them. 

" They often approach the sacraments, and the custom among them 
is to confess and to communicate once in a fortnight. We have been 
obliged to appoint particular days on which they shall confess, or they 
would not leave us leisure to discharge our other duties. These are 
the Fridays and Sundays of each week, when we hear them, and on 
these days we are overwhelmed with a crowd of penitents. The care 
which we take of the sick gains us their confidence, and it is particularly 
at such times that we reap the fruits of our labors. Their docility is then 
perfect, and we have generally the consolation of seeing them die in 
great peace, and with the firm hope of being shortly united to God in 
heaven. 

" This mission owes its establishment to the late Father Gravier. 
Father Marquette was, in truth, the first who discovered the Missisipi, 
about thirty-nine years ago; but, not being acquainted with the lan- 
guage of the country, he did not remain. Some time afterward he made 
a second journey, with the intention of fixing there his residence, and 
laboring for the conversion of these people; but death, which arrested 



32 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

easily understood one another. They are mild and tractable 
in their disposition, as we experienced in the reception they 

him on the way, left to another the care of accomplishing this enter- 
prise. This was Father Allouez, who charged himself with it. He 
was acquainted with the language of the Oumiamis, which approaches 
very nearly to that of the Ilinois. He, however, made but a short 
sojourn, having the idea while there that he should be able to accomplish 
more in a different country, where indeed he ended his apostolic life. 

"Thus Father Gravier is the one who should properly be regarded 
as the founder of the mission to the Ilinois. He first investigated tile 
principles of their language, and reduced them to grammatical rules, 
so that we have since only been obliged to bring to perfection what he 
began with so great success. This missionary had at first much to 
suffer from their medicine-men, and his life was exposed to continual 
dangers; but nothing repulsed him, and he surmounted all these ob- 
stacles by his patience and mildness. Being obliged to depart to Mich- 
ilimakinac, his mission was confided to Father Bineteau and Father 
Pinet. In company with these two missionaries I labored for some 
time, and after their death remained in sole charge of all the toilsome 
duties of the mission, until the arrival of Father Mermet. My resi- 
dence was formerly in the great village of the Peouarias, where Father 
Gravier, who had returned thither for the second time, received a wound 
which caused his death. * * * 

"After having remained eight days at the mission of St. Joseph, I 
embarked with my brother in his canoe, to repair together to Michili- 
makinac. The voyage was very delightful to me, not only because I 
had the pleasure of being with a brother, who is very dear, but also 
because it afforded me an opportunity of profiting for a much longer 
time by his conversation and example. 

" It is, as I have said, more than a hundred leagues from the mission 
of St. Joseph to Michilimackinac. We go the whole length of Lake 
Michigan, which in the maps has the name, without any authority, of 
' the lake of the Ilinois,' since the Ilinois do not at all dwell in its neigh- 
borhood. The stormy weather delayed us, so that our voyage took 
seventeen days, though it is often accomplished in less than eight. 

" Michilimackinac is situated between two great lakes, into which 
other lakes and many rivers empty. Therefore it is that this village 
is the ordinary resort of the French, the Indians, and almost all those 
engaged in the fur-trade of the country. The soil there is far inferior 
to that among the Ilinois. During the greater part of the year one 
sees nothing but fish, and the waters which are so agreeable during 
the summer render a residence there dull and wearisome during the 
winter. The earth is entirely covered with snow from All- Saints' day 
even to the month of May. 
" The character of these Indians partakes of that of the climate under 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 33 

gave us. They have many wives, of whom they are ex- 
tremely jealous; they watch them carefully, and cut off their 

which they live. It is harsh and indocile. Religion among them does 
not take deep root, as should be desired, and there are but few souls 
who from time to time give themselves truly to God, and console the 
missionary for all his pains. For myself, I could not but admire the 
patience with which my brother endured their failings, his sweetness 
under the trial of their caprices and their coarseness, his diligence in 
visiting them, in teaching them, in arousing them from their indolence 
for the exercises of religion, his zeal and his love, capable of inflaming 
their hearts, if they had been less hard and more tractable ; and I said 
to myself that ' success is not always the recompense of the toils of 
apostolic men, nor the measure of their merit.' 

" Having finished all our business during the two months that I re- 
mained with my brother, it became necessary for us to separate. As it 
was God who ordered this separation, he knew how to soften all its 
bitterness. I departed to rejoin Father Chardon, with whom I remained 
fifteen days. He is a missionary full of zeal, and who has a rare talent 
for acquiring languages. He is acquainted with almost all those of the 
Indians who are on these lakes, and has even learned that of the 
Ilinois sufficiently to make himself understood, although he has only 
seen some of those Indians accidentally, when they came to his village; 
for the Pouteautamis and the Ilinois live in terms of friendship, and 
visit each other from time to time. Their manners, however, are very 
different: those are brutal and gross, while these, on the contrary, are 
mild and affable. 

" After having taken leave of the missionary, we ascended the river 
St. Joseph to where it was necessary to make a portage, about thirty 
leagues from its mouth. The canoes which are used for navigation in 
this country are only of bark, and very light, although they carry as 
much as a large boat. When the canoe has carried us for a long time 
on the water, we in our turn carry it on the land, over to another river ; 
and it was thus that we did in this place. We first transported all there 
was in the canoe toward the source of the river of the Ilinois, which 
they call Haukiki ; then we carried thither our canoe, and after having 
launched it, we embarked there to continue our route. We were but 
two days making this portage, which is one and a half leagues in length. 
The abundant rains which had fallen during this season had swollen 
our little rivers, and freed us from the currents which we feared. At 
last we perceived our own agreeable country, the wild buffaloes and 
herds of stags wandering on the borders of the river; and those who 
were in the canoe took some of them from time to time, which served 
for our food. 

" At the distance of some leagues from the village of the Peouarias, 
many of these Indians came to meet me, to form an escort to defend 



34 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



nose or ears when they do not behave well; I saw several 
who bore the marks of their infidelity. They are well- 

me from hostile parties of warriors who might be roaming through the 
forest; and when I approached the village, they sent forward one of 
their number to give notice of my arrival. The greater part ascended 
to the fort, which is situated on a rock on the banks of the river, and, 
when I entered the village, made a general discharge of their guns in 
sign of rejoicing. Their joy was, indeed, pictured plainly on their 
countenances, and shone forth in my presence. I was invited, with the 
French and the Ilinois chiefs, to a feast which was given to us by the 
most distinguished of the Peouarias. It was there that one of the 
principal chiefs addressed me in the name of the nation, testifying to 
me the deep grief they felt at the unworthy manner in which they 
had treated Father Gravier, and conjured me to forget, it, to have 
pity on them and their children, and to open to them the gate of 
heaven, which they had closed against themselves. 

" For myself, I returned thanks to God, from the bottom of my 
heart, that I thus saw that accomplished which I had desired with the 
utmost ardor. I answered them, in a few words, that I was touched 
with their repentance ; that I always regarded them as my children ; 
and that after having made a short excursion to my mission, I should 
come to fix my residence in the midst of them, to aid them by my in- 
structions to return into the way of salvation, from which they had, 
perhaps, wandered. At these words the chief uttered a loud cry of 
joy, and each one with emulation testified his gratitude. During two 
days that I remained in the village, I said mass in public, and dis- 
charged all the duties of a missionary. 

" It was toward the end of August that I embarked to return to my 
mission of the Cascasquias, distant a hundred and fifty leagues from 
the village of the Peouarias. During the first day of our departure, we 
found a canoe of the Scioux, broken in some places, which had drifted 
away, and we saw an encampment of their warriors, where we judged 
by the view there were at least one hundred persons. We were justly 
alarmed, and on the point of returning to the village we had left, from 
which we were as yet but ten leagues' distance. 

" These Scioux are the most cruel of all the Indians, and we should 
have been lost if we had fallen into their hands. They are great war- 
riors, but it is principally upon the water that they are formidable. 
They have only small canoes of bark, made in the form of a gondola, 
and scarcely larger than the body of a man, for they can not hold 
more than two or three at the most. They row on their knees, man- 
aging the oar now on one side and now on the other; that is, giving 
three or four strokes of the oar on the right side, and then as many on 
the left side, but with so much dexterity and swiftness that their canoes 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 35 

formed, nimble, and very adroit in using the bow and arrow ; 
they use guns also, which they buy of our Indian allies who 
trade with the French; they use them especially to terrify 
their enemies by the noise and smoke, the others lying too 
far to the west, have never seen them, and do not know their 
use. They are warlike, and formidable to distant nations in 
the south and west, where they go to carry of! slaves, whom 
they make an article of trade, selling them at a high price 
to other nations for goods.* 

The distant nations against whom they go to war, have no 
knowledge of Europeans; they are acquainted with neither 
iron or copper, and have nothing but stone knives. When 
the Ilinois set out on a war party, the whole village is noti- 
fied by a loud cry made at the door of their huts the morn- 
ing and evening before they set out. The chiefs are dis- 
tinguished from the soldiers by their wearing a scarft inge- 
niously made of the hair of bears and wild oxen. The face 
is painted with red lead or ochre, which is found in great 

seem to fly on the water. After having examined all things with 
attention, we concluded that these Indians had struck their intended 
blow, and were retiring; we, however, kept on our guard, and advanced 
with great caution, that we might not encounter them. But when we 
had once gained the Missisipi, we sped on by dint of rowing. At 
last, on the 10th of September, I arrived at my dear mission, in perfect 
health, after five months' absence." — Kipp's Jesuit Miss. 

*It would appear from this remark, that a traffic in Indian slaves 
was carried on extensively at a very early period, by the aborigines of 
North America. 

f The scarf or belt has always formed a part of the costume of 
chiefs. Among the tribes of the west it is generally made of long 
hair braided in figures with shells, beads, etc. Belts of deer and 
buffalo skins are also worn. These belts are worn over the left shoul- 
der, and passed around the waist, ending in a long fringe. In addition 
to the scarf, they likewise adorn themselves with arm, knee, and wrist 
bands, knee-rattles made of deer-hoofs, and arm themselves with the 
formidable bow and arrow, war-club and scalping-knife. — F. 



36 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



quantities a few days' journey from their village.* They 
live by game, which is abundant in this country, and on 
Indian corn, of which they always gather a good crop, so 
that they have never suffered by famine. They also sow 
beans and melons, which are excellent, especially those with 
a red seed. Their squashes are not of the best; they dry them 
in the sun, to eat in the winter and spring. 

Their cabins are very large; they are lined and floored 
with rush-mats. They make all their dishes of wood, and 
their spoons of the bones of the buffalo, which they cut so 
well, that it serves them to eat their sagamity easily. 

They are liberal in their maladies, and believe that the 
medicines given them operate in proportion to the presents 
they have made the medicine-man. Their only clothes are 
skins; their women are always dressed very modestly and 
decently, while the men do not take any pains to cover them- 
selves. Through what superstition I know not, some Ilinois, 
as well as some Nadouessi, while yet young, assume the fe- 
male dress, and keep it all their life. There is some mystery 
about it, for they never marry, and glory in debasing them- 
selves to do all that is done by women ;f yet they go to war, 

* The custom of painting their bodies is characteristic of all savage 
tribes. The native Britons, Germans and Scandinavians, formerly 
practised it. The savage tribes of North and South America continue 
the custom to the present day, with a view of rendering themselves 
more attractive to their friends, or more terrible to their enemies. 
The substances usually employed are ochres, clays, native oxydes of 
iron, and other minerals, the production of their country. When they 
go to war, they paint themselves red; when they mourn for their 
friends or relatives, with black ; at other times they cover their face 
and body with a variety of fantastic colors, which they are very skillful 
in mixing. — F. 

f Others represent this custom to have been to satisfy that unnatural 
lust which dishonored all paganism, from the vaunted Trajan to the 
lowest savage. See Hennepin's account of this custom in his "Voyage 
en un pays plus grand que I'Europe entre mer glaciate, et le Nouveau 
Mexique." 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 37 

though allowed to use only a club, and not the bow and ar- 
row, the peculiar arm of men; they are present at all the 
juggleries and solemn dances in honor of the calumet; they 
are permitted to sing, but not to dance; they attend the 
councils, and nothing can be decided without their advice; 
finally, by the profession of an extraordinary life, they pass 
for manitous (that is, for genii), or persons of consequence. 

It now only remains for me to speak of the calumet, than 
which there is nothing among them more mysterious or more 
esteemed. Men do not pay to the crowns and sceptres of 
kings the honor they pay to it: it seems to be the god of 
peace and war, the arbiter of life and death. Carry it about 
you and show it, and you can march fearlessly amid enemies, 
who even in the heat of battle lay down their arms when it is 
shown. Hence the Ilinois gave me one, to serve as my safe- 
guard amid all the nations that I had to pass on my voyage. 
There is a calumet for peace, and one for war, distinguished 
only by the color of the feathers with which they are 
adorned, red being the sign of war. They use them also 
for settling disputes, strengthening alliances, and speaking to 
strangers.* 

It is made of a polished red stone, like marble, so pierced 
that one end serves to hold the tobacco, while the other is 
fastened on the stem, which is a stick two feet long, as thick 
as a common cane, and pierced in the middle; it is orna- 
mented with the head and neck of different birds of beau- 
tiful plumage; they also add large feathers of red, green, 
and other colors, with which it is all covered. They esteem 
it particularly because they regard it as the calumet of the 
sun; and, in fact, they present it to him to smoke when they 
wish to obtain calm, or rain, or fair weather. They scruple 

* The calumet of peace is adorned with the feathers of the white 
eagle; and the bearer of it may go everywhere without fear, because 
it is held sacred by all tribes. — F. 



38 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



to bathe at the beginning of summer, or to eat new fruits, 
till they have danced it. They do it thus : — 

The calumet dance* which is very famous among these * 
Indians, is performed only for important matters, sometimes 
to strengthen a peace or to assemble for some great war; at 
other times for a public rejoicing; sometimes they do this 
honor to a nation who is invited to be present; sometimes 
they use it to receive some important personage, as if they 
wished to give him the entertainment of a ball or comedy. 
In winter the ceremony is performed in a cabin, in summer 
in the open fields. They select a place, surrounded with 
trees, so as to be sheltered beneath their foliage against the 
heat of the sun. In the middle of the space they spread out 
a large party-colored mat of rushes; this serves as a carpet, 
on which to place with honor the god of the one who gives 
the dance; for every one has his own god, or manitouf as 

* Besides the calumet dance, these tribes have a great variety of 
other dances, wholly of their own invention. Twenty-one of these are 
still in use among the southwestern Indians, to each of which there is 
a history attached ; and many of them, without doubt, have been handed 
down from generation to generation until their origin is even lost in 
tradition. — F. 

fManitou is a word employed to signify the same thing by all In- 
dians from the gulf of Mexico to the arctic regions. In the Indian 
language it signifies "spirit." They have good and bad manitous, 
great and small manitous ; a manitou for every cave, water-fall, or 
other commanding object in nature, and generally make offerings at 
such places. Their bad manitou answers to our devil. All Indians are 
more or less superstitious, and believe in miraculous transformations, 
ghosts and witchcraft. They have jugglers and prophets who predict 
events, interpret dreams, and perform incantations and mummeries. 
In the true acceptation of the term, the Indians have a religion, for 
they believe in a great spirit who resides in the clouds, and reigns 
throughout the earth. The French missionaries have been the most 
successful in planting Christianity among them; but in general, they 
prefer "to follow the religion of their fathers." The savage mind, 
habituated to sloth, is not easily roused into a state of moral activity, 
and therefore, in general, they are incapable of embracing and under- 
standing the sublime truths and doctrines of the evangelical law. — F. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 39 

they call it, which is a snake, a bird, or something of the 
kind, which they have dreamed in their sleep, and in which 
they put all their trust for the success of their wars, fishing, 
and hunts. Near this manitou and at its right, they put the 
calumet in honor of which the feast is given, making around 
about it a kind of trophy, spreading there the arms used by 
the warriors of these tribes, namely, the war-club, bow, 
hatchet, quiver, and arrows. 

Things being thus arranged, and the hour for dancing 
having arrived, those who are to sing take the most honor- 
able place under the foliage. They are the men and the 
women who have the finest voices, and who accord per- 
fectly. The spectators then come and take their places 
around under the branches; but each one on arriving must 
salute the manitou, which he does by inhaling the smoke and 
then purring it from his mouth upon it, as if offering incense. 
Each one goes first and takes the calumet respectfully, and 
supporting it with both hands, makes it dance in cadence, 
suiting himself to the air of the song; he makes it go through 
various figures, sometimes showing it to the whole assembly 
by turning it from side to side. 

After this, he who is to begin the dance appears in the 
midst of the assembly, and goes first; sometimes he presents 
it to the sun, as if he wished it to smoke ; sometime he in- 
clines it to the earth ; and at other times he spreads its wings 
as if for it to fly; at other times, he approaches it to the 
mouths of the spectators for them to smoke, the whole in 
cadence. This is the first scene of the ballet. 

The second consists in a combat, to the sound of a kind of 
drum, which succeeds the songs, or rather joins them, har- 
monizing quite well. The dancer beckons to some brave to 
come and take the arms on the mat, and challenges him to 
fight to the sound of the drums; the other approaches, takes 

9 



40 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

his bow and arrow, and begins a duel against the dancer who 
has no defence but the calumet. This spectacle is very pleas- 
ing, especially as it is always done in time, for one attacks, 
the other defends; one strikes, the other parries; one flies, 
the other pursues ; then he who fled faces and puts his enemy 
to flight. This is all done so well with measured steps, and 
the regular sound of voices and drums, that it might pass for 
a very pretty opening of a ballet in France. 

The third scene consists of a speech delivered by the holder 
of the calumet, for the combat being ended without bloodshed, 
he relates the battles he was in, the victories he has gained; 
he names the nations, the places, the captives he has taken, 
and as a reward, he who presides at the dance presents him 
with a beautiful beaver robe, or something else, which he 
receives, and then he presents the calumet to another, who 
hands it to a third, and so to all the rest, till all having done 
their duty, the presiding chief presents the calumet itself to 
the nation invited to this ceremony in token of the eternal 
peace which shall reign between the two tribes. 

The following is one of the songs which they are accus- 
tomed to sing; they give it a certain expression, not easily 
represented by notes, yet in this all its grace consists : — 

" Ninahani, ninahani, ninahani, 
Naniongo." 

We take leave of our Ilinois about the end of June, at 
three o'clock in the afternoon, and embark in sight of all the 
tribe, who admire our little canoes, having never seen the like. 

We descend, following the course of the river, toward an- 
other called Pekitanoiii,* which empties into the Missisipi, 

* The name here given by Marquette. Pekitanoiii, that is, muddy 
water, prevailed till Marest's time (1712). A branch of Rock river is 
still called Pekatonica. The Recollects, called the Missouri, the river 
of the Ozages. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 41 

coming from the northwest, of which I have something con- 
siderable to say, after I have related what I have remarked 
of this river. 

Passing by some pretty high rocks which line the river, I 
perceived a plant which seemed to me very remarkable. Its 
root is like small turnips linked together by little fibres, which 
had the taste of carrots. From this root springs a leaf as 
wide as the hand, half of a finger thick with spots in the 
middle ; from this leaf spring other leaves like the sockets of » 
chandeliers in our saloons. Each leaf bears five or six bell- 
shaped yellow flowers. * We found abundance of mul- 
berries, as large as the French, and a small fruit which we 
took at first for olives, but it had the taste of an orange, and 
another as large as a hen's egg; we broke it in half and 
found two separations, in each of which were encased eight 
or ten seed shaped like an almond, which are quite good 
when ripe.f The tree which bears them has, however, a 
very bad smell, and its leaf resembles that of the walnut. 
There are also, in the prairies, fruit resembling our filberts, 
but more tender; the leaves are larger, and spring from 
a stalk crowned at the top with a head like a sunflower, in 
which all these nuts are neatly arranged ; they are very good 
cooked or raw. J 

As we coasted along rocks frightful for their height and 
length, we saw two monsters painted on one of these rocks, 
which startled us at first, and on which the boldest Indian 
dare not gaze long. They are as large as a calf, with horns 
on the head like a deer, a fearful look, red eyes, bearded like 
a tiger, the face somewhat like a man's, the body covered 

* Probably the Cactus opuntia, several species of which grow in the 
western states. — F. 
t Probably the Diospyros virginiana, or persimmon-tree. 
X Probably the Castanea pumila, or chincapin. — F. 



42 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

with scales, and the tail so long that it twice makes the turn 
of the body, passing over the head and down between the 
legs, and ending at last in a fish's tail. Green, red, and a 
kind of black, are the colors employed. On the whole, these 
two monsters are so well painted, that we could not believe 
any Indian to have been the designer, as good painters in 
France would find it hard to do as well ; besides this, they are 
so high upon the rock that it is hard to get conveniently at 
them to paint them. This is pretty nearly the figure of these 
monsters, as I drew it off.* 

As we were discoursing of them, sailing gently down a 
beautiful, still, clear water, we heard the noise of a rapid into 
which we were about to fall. I have seen nothing more 
frightful; a mass of large trees, entire, with branches, real 
floating islands, came rushing from the mouth of the river 
Pekitanoiii, so impetuously, that we could not, without great 
danger, expose ourselves to pass across. The agitation was 
so great that the water was all muddy and could not get 
clear. 

Pekitanoiiif is a considerable river which coming from 

* The drawing of these figures by Marquette is lost. " The painted 
monsters," says Stoddard, "on the side of a high perpendicular rock, 
apparently inaccessible to man, between the Missouri and Illinois, and 
known to moderns by the name of Piesa, still remain in a good degree 
of preservation." 

t Father Marquette had now reached the junction of the Missouri 
and the Mississippi, in latitude north 38 0 50'. "The Achelous and 
Teliboas," says Stoddard, "are insignificant rivers when compared with 
the Mississippi and Missouri; yet Thucydides and Xenophon exerted 
all their powers to render them immortal. The two great rivers of the 
west furnish themes still more pregnant with the sublime and beau- 
tiful. The great length of them, the variety of scenery as they roll 
among mountains, or other extensive plains, at once charm the senses 
and warm the imagination. The facilities they yield to commerce, the 
superfluous wealth of twenty states conveyed to the ocean, the variety 
of climates, soils, and productions on their borders, the mineral and 
other subterranean riches of the soil, seem to be designed by Heaven 
to impress us with their importance and sublimity." 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 



43 



very far in the northwest, empties into the Missisipi. Many 
Indian towns are ranged along this river, and I hope, by its 
means, to make the discovery of the Red, or California sea. 

We judged by the direction the Missisipi takes, that if 
it keeps on the same course it has its mouth in the gulf of 
Mexico; it would be very advantageous to find that which 
leads to the South sea, toward California and this, as I said, 
I hope to find by Pekitanoiii, following the account which 
the Indians have given me; for from them I learn that ad- 
vancing up this river for five or six days, you come to a 
beautiful prairie twenty or thirty leagues long, which you 
must cross to the northwest. It terminates at another little 
river on which you can embark, it not being difficult to trans- 
port canoes over so beautiful a country as that prairie. This 
second river runs southwest for ten or fifteen leagues, after 
which it enters a small lake, which is the source of another 
deep river, running to the west where it empties into the 
sea.* I have hardly any doubt that this is the Red sea, and 
I do not despair of one day making the discovery, if God 
does me this favor and grants me health, in order to be able 
to publish the gospel to all the nations of this new world 
who have so long been plunged in heathen darkness. 

Let us resume our route after having escaped as best we 
could, the dangerous rapid caused by the obstacle of which 
I have spoken. 

* Marquette was right in his conjecture, as typographical surveys 
have since determined, that the gulf of California might be reached by 
the Platte which is one of the tributaries of the Missouri. The head 
waters of the Platte almost interlock with the head waters of the 
Colorado, which river flows into the Red sea, or gulf of California, 
as here stated by Marquette. — F. 



44 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



SECTION VII. 

NEW COUNTRIES DISCOVERED BY THE FATHER. — VARIOUS PARTICULARS. — 
MEETING WITH SOME INDIANS. — FIRST TIDINGS OF THE SEA AND OF 
EUROPEANS. — GREAT DANGER AVOIDED BY THE CALUMET. 

After having made about twenty leagues due south, and 
a little less to the southeast, we came to a river called Oua- 
boukigou,* the mouth of which is at 36 0 north. Before we 
arrived there, we passed by a place dreaded by the Indians, 
because they think that there is a manitou there, that is, a 
demon who devours all who pass, and of this it was, that 
they had spoken, when they wished to deter us from our 
enterprise. The devil is this — a small bay, full of rocks, 
some twenty feet high, where the whole current of the river 
is whirled; hurled back against that which follows, and 
checked by a neighboring island, the mass of water is forced 
through a narrow channel; all this is not done without a 
furious combat of the waters tumbling over each other, nor 
without a great roaring, which strikes terror into Indians 
who fear everything. It did not prevent our passing and 
reaching 8ab8kig8. This river comes from the country on 
the east, inhabited by the people called Chaouanons,f in such 

* The Ohio, or beautiful river, as that Iroquois name signifies. The 
name given by Marquette, became finally Ouabache, in our spelling 
Wabash, and is now applied to the last tributary of the Ohio. The 
letter used 'a few lines lower down for ou, is the Greek contraction, 
and was used by the missionaries to express a peculiar Indian sound, 
which we have often represented by W. 

t The Chawanons have become by our substitution of sh, Shawnees. 
I find the name Chaoiianong in the Relation 1671-72, as another name 
for the people called Ontoiiagannha, which is defined in the Relation 
of i66i-'62, to mean " where they do not know how to speak." This 
is not then their name, and the name Chaoiianong probably came 
through the western Algonquins, and was usually translated by the 
French the Chats, or Cat tribe. I am strongly inclined to think them 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 45 



numbers that they reckon as many as twenty-three villages 
in one district, and fifteen in another, lying quite near each 
other; they are by no means warlike, and are the people the 
Iroquois go far to seek in order to wage an unprovoked war 
upon them; and, as these poor people can not defend them- 
selves, they allow themselves to be taken and carried off like 
sheep, and innocent as they are, do not fail to experience, 
at times, the barbarity of the Iroquois, who burn them 
cruelly. 

A little above this river of which I have just spoken, are 

cliffs where our men perceived an iron mine, which they 

deemed very rich; there are many veins, and a bed a foot 

thick. Large masses are found combined with pebbles. 

There is also there a kind of unctuous earth of three colors, 

identical with the tribe called, by the Huron missionaries, while that 
nation stood, the Erieehonons, or Cats (Rel. i640-'4i). This tribe 
then occupied western New York, except a little strip on the Niagara 
river, where there were three or four villages of Attiwandaronk, or 
Neuters. Morgan in his League of the Iroquois, indeed, thinks the 
Neuters to be Cats; but as the Neuters were incorporated into the 
Iroquois (Rel. 1655, &c), under the name of Atirhagenret, or Rhagen- 
raka (Rels. 1671, '73, '74), while the Eries were gradually expelled; 
it seems more probable that they retired from their lake to the Ohio, 
thence to the Tennessee, and turning south, came up again to Pennsyl- 
vania. During this period, being known chiefly through Algonquin 
tribes, they were called by an Algonquin word for the animal of which 
they bore the name. De Laet giving the names of the tribes from the 
mouth of the Delaware to Lake Erie, puts the Sawanos one of those 
nearest the Senecas and the lake ; and this name differs from the later 
French name only in the aspirate, frequently omitted and expressed at 
random by the same writer, as we find Missilimakinac, and Michili- 
mackinac, Maskoutens and Machkoutens, Kaskaskia and Kachkachkia. 
This will I think, justify our supposing the Eries, Shawnees, Chaoua- 
nons, Ontoiiagannha, Sawanas, to be the same unfortunate tribe whom 
the Iroquois so perseveringly followed. Much confusion has been of 
late years occasioned by writers utterly unfamiliar with the language, 
religion, or writings of the early French missionaries. This has gone 
so far, that in Schoolcraft's ponderous work on the History, Condition, 
and Progress of the Indian Tribes, we are asked, at p. 560, whether the 
Eries were the Neuters ! 



46 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

purple, violet, and red,* the water in which it is washed be- 
comes blood-red. There is also a very heavy, red sand; I 
put some on a paddle, and it took the color so well that the 
water did not efface it for fifteen days that I used it in row- 
ing. 

Here we began to see canes, or large reeds on the banks 
of the river; they are of a very beautiful green; all the knots 
are crowned with long, narrow, pointed leaves ; they are very 
high, and so thick-set, that the wild cattle find it difficult to 
make their way through them. 

Up to the present time we had not been troubled by mus- 
quitoes, but we now, as it were, entered their country.! Let 
me tell you what the Indians of these parts do to defend 
themselves against them. They raise a scaffolding, the floor 
of which is made of simple poles, and consequently a mere 
grate-work to give passage to the smoke of a fire which they 
build beneath. This drives off the little animals, as they can 
not bear it. The Indians sleep on the poles, having pieces of 
bark stretched above them to keep off the rain. This scaf- 
folding shelters them too from the excessive and insupport- 
able heat of the country; for they lie in the shade in the 
lower story, and are thus sheltered from the rays of the sun, 
enjoy the cool air which passes freely through the scaffold. 

With the same view we were obliged to make on the water 
a kind of cabin with our sails, to shelter ourselves from the 
musquitoes and the sun. While thus borne on at the will of 
the current, we perceived on the shore Indians armed with 
guns, with which they awaited us. I first presented my 

* This has always been a favorite spot for the resort of Indians to 
obtain different colored clays with which they paint themselves. — F. 

f Marquette had now reached the country of the warlike Chicachas, 
whose territory extended several hundred miles along the banks of the 
Mississippi, and far to the eastward, where they carried on a traffic 
with tribes who traded with Europeans. — F. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 47 

feathered calumet, while my comrades stood to arms, ready 
to fire on the first volley of the Indians. I hailed them in 
Huron, but they answered me by a word, which seemed to 
us a declaration of war. They were, however, as much 
frightened as ourselves, and what we took for a signal of 
war, was an invitation to come near, that they might give 
us food; we accordingly landed and entered their cabins, 
where they presented us wild-beef and bear's oil, with white 
plums, which are excellent. They have guns, axes, hoes, 
knives, beads, and double glass bottles in which they keep 
the powder. They wear their hair long and mark their 
bodies in the Iroquois fashion; the head-dress and clothing 
of their women were like those of the Huron squaws. 

They assured us that it was not more than ten days' jour- 
ney to the sea; that they bought stuff's and other articles of 
Europeans on the eastern side; that these Europeans had 
rosaries and pictures; that they played on instruments; that 
some were like me, who received them well. I did not, how- 
ever, see any one who seemed to have received any instruc- 
tion in the faith; such as I could, I gave them with some 
medals.* 

This news roused our courage and made us take up our 
paddles with renewed ardor. We advance then, and now 
begin to see less prairie land, because both sides of the river 
are lined with lofty woods. The cotton-wood, elm and 
white-wood, are of admirable height and size. The numbers 
of wild cattle we heard bellowing, made us believe the 

* The missionary gives no name to this tribe or party, but from their 
dress and language, apparently of the Huron-Iroquois family, they may 
have been a Tuscarora party, and referred to the Spaniards of Florida 
with whom they traded in trinkets for skins. That they were not 
dwellers on the Mississippi seems probable, from the fact that they 
were spoken of, not by the next tribe, but by those lower down, whom 
they had doubtless reached on some other foray. 



48 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

prairies near. We also saw quails on the water's edge, and 
killed a little parrot with half the head red, the rest, with the 
neck, yellow, and the body green. We had now descended 
to near 33 ° north, having almost always gone south, when 
on the water's edge we perceived a village called Mitchi- 
gamea.* We had recourse to our patroness and guide, the 
Blessed Virgin Immaculate; and, indeed, we needed her aid, 
for we heard from afar the Indians exciting one another to 
the combat by continual yells. They were armed with bows, 
arrows, axes, war-clubs, and bucklers, and prepared to attack 
us by land and water; some embarked in large wooden 
canoes, a part to ascend the rest to descend the river, so as 
to cut off our way, and surround us completely. Those on 
shore kept going and coming, as if about to begin the attack. 
In fact, some young men sprang into the water to come and 
seize my canoe, but the current having compelled them to 
return to the shore, one of them threw his war-club at us, 
but it passed over our heads without doing us any harm. In 
vain I showed the calumet, and made gestures to explain 
that we had not come as enemies. The alarm continued, and 
they were about to pierce us from all sides with their arrows, 
when God suddenly touched the hearts of the old men on 
the water-side, doubtless at the sight of our calumet, which 
at a distance they had not distinctly recognized; but as I 
showed it continually, they were touched, restrained the 

* The Mitchigameas were a warlike tribe, and lived on a lake of that 
name near the river St. Francis. They finally became fused into the 
Illinois nation, as Charlevoix assures us in his journal, where he makes 
them inhabitants of the villages of the Kaskaskias, in 1721. This 
brings them near the part which had but shortly before taken the name 
of Michigan, given also to the lake which the Jesuits called Lake Illinois. 
The name Michigan may come from them, though I am informed by 
the Rev. Mr. Pierz, an Ottawa missionary, that Mitchikan, meaning a 
fence, was the Indian of Mackinaw, and the name under the form 
Machihiganing was used some years prior by Allouez. — Rel. 69, 70. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 49 

ardor of their youth, and two of the chiefs having thrown 
their bows and quivers into our canoe, and as it were at our 
feet, entered and brought us to the shore, where we dis- 
embarked, not without fear on our part. We had at first 
to speak by signs, for not one understood a word of the six 
languages I knew ; at last an old man was found who spoke 
a little Ilinois. 

We showed them by our presents, that we were going to 
the sea; they perfectly understood our meaning, but I know 
not whether they understood what I told them of God, and 
the things which concerned their salvation. It is a seed cast 
in the earth which will bear its fruit in season. We got no 
answer, except that we would learn all we desired at another 
great village called Akamsea, only eight or ten leagues 
farther down the river. They presented us with sagamity 
and fish, and we spent the night among them, not, however, 
without some uneasiness. 



SECTION VIII. 

RECEPTION GIVEN TO THE FRENCH IN THE LAST OF THE TOWNS WHICH 
THEY SAW. — MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THESE SAVAGES. — REASONS 
FOR NOT GOING FURTHER. 

( 

We embarked next morning with our interpreter, pre- 
ceded by ten Indians in a canoe. Having arrived about half 
a league from Akamsea* (Arkansas), we saw two canoes 

* It is probable that Akamsea was not far from the Indian village 
of Guachoya, where De Soto breathed his last, one hundred and thirty 
years before; and Mitchigamea, the village of Aminoya, where Alva- 
rado de Moscoso built his fleet of brigantines to return to Mexico. 
The historian of that expedition, says " The same day we left Aminoya 
(July 2d, 1543), we passed by Guachoya, where the Indians tarried for 
us in their canoes." The Spaniards were attacked in descending the 



50 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

coming toward us. The commander was standing up hold- 
ing in his hand the calumet, with which he made signs ac- 
cording to the custom of the country; he approached us, 
singing quite agreeably, and invited us to smoke, after which 
he presented us some sagamity and bread made of Indian 
corn, of which we ate a little. He now took the lead, mak- 
ing us signs to follow slowly. Meanwhile they had prepared 
us a place under the war-chiefs' scaffold; it was neat and 
carpeted with fine rush mats, on which they made us sit 
down, having around us immediately the sachems, then the 
braves, and last of all, the people in crowds. We fortunately 
found among them a young man who understood Ilinois 
much better than the interpreter whom we had brought 
from Mitchigamea. By means of him I first spoke to the 
assembly by the ordinary presents; they admired what I told 
them of God, and the mysteries of our holy faith, and showed 
a great desire to keep me with them to instruct them. 

We then asked them what they knew of the sea; they re- 
plied that we were only ten days' journey from it (we could 
have made this distance in five days) ; that they did not know 
the nations who inhabited it, because their enemies prevented 
their commerce with those Europeans; that the hatchets, 
knives, and beads, which we saw, were sold them, partly by 
the nations to the east, and partly by an Ilinois town four 
days' journey to the west; that the Indians with fire-arms 
whom we had met, were their enemies who cut off their 

river by powerful fleets of Indian canoes, and lost in one of these en- 
gagements the brave John de Guzman and eleven men. In sixteen 
days they reached the mouth of the Mississippi, and on the ioth Sep- 
tember, 1543, the remnant of this once splendid expedition reached 
Mexico. It must have been, therefore, at or near the mouth of the 
Arkansas, and not Red river, where De Soto died, otherwise it would 
not have taken Moscoso one-half of the time to reach the gulf of 
Mexico from the latter river, which is but three hundred and fifty 
miles from the gulf. — F. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 5 1 



passage to the sea, and prevented their making the acquaint- 
ance of the Europeans, or having any commerce with them; 
that, besides, we should expose ourselves greatly by passing 
on, in consequence of the continual war-parties that their 
enemies sent out on the river; since being armed and used 
to war, we could not, without evident danger, advance on 
that river which they constantly occupy. 

During this converse, they kept continually bringing us in 
wooden dishes of sagamity, Indian corn whole, or pieces of 
dog- flesh ; the whole day was spent in feasting. 

These Indians are very courteous and liberal of what they 
have, but they are very poorly off for food, not daring to go 
and hunt the wild-cattle, for fear of their enemies. It is 
true, they have Indian corn in abundance, which they sow 
at all seasons; we saw some ripe; more just sprouting, and 
more just in the ear, so that they sow three crops a year. 
They cook it in large earthern pots,* which are very well 
made; they have also plates of baked earth, which they em- 
ploy for various purposes. The men go naked, and wear 
their hair short; they have the nose and ears pierced, and 
beads hanging from them. The women are dressed in 
wretched skins; they braid their hair in two plaits, which 
falls behind their ears ; they have no ornaments to decorate 
their persons. Their banquets are without any ceremonies; 
they serve their meats in large dishes, and every one eats as 
much as he pleases, and they give the rest to one another. 
Their language is extremely difficult and with all my efforts, 
I could not succeed in pronouncing some words. Their 
cabins, which are long and wide, are made of bark; they 

* Indian pottery is one of the most ancient arts of this country. The 
southern tribes particularly excelled in the manufacture of various 
articles for household use, which, in form and finish, were not unlike 
the best remains of Roman art. — F. 



52 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

sleep at the two extremities, which are raised about two feet 
from the ground. They keep their corn in large baskets, 
made of cane, or in gourds, as large as half barrels. They 
do not know what a beaver is; their riches consisting in the 
hides of wild cattle. They never see snow, and know the 
winter only by the rain which falls oftener than in summer.* 
We eat no fruit there but watermelons; if they knew how 
to cultivate their ground, they might have plenty of all kinds. 

In the evening the sachems held a secret council on the 
design of some to kill us for plunder, but the chief broke up 
all these schemes, and sending for us, danced the calumet 
in our presence, in the manner I have described above, as 
a mark of perfect assurance; and then, to remove all fears, 
presented it to me. 

M. Jollyet and I held another council to deliberate on 
what w r e should do, whether we should push on, or rest satis- 
fied with the discovery that we had made. After having at- 
tentively considered that we were not far from the gulf of 
Mexico, the basin of which is 31 0 40' north, and we at 33 0 
40', so that we could not be more than two or three days 
journey off; that the Missisipi undoubtedly had its mouth 
in Florida or the gulf of Mexico, and not on the east, in 
Virginia, whose seacoast is at 34 0 north, which we had 
passed, without having as yet reached the sea, nor on the 

* Marquette had now descended to genial climes, " that knew no 
winter, but rains, beyond the bound of the Huron and Algonquin 
tribes," to tribes that claimed descent from the Aztecs, and who still 
probably spoke a Mexican dialect which compelled Marquette to em- 
ploy an interpreter. The few words which have been recorded of the 
Arkansas tribes by early travellers, and the similarity of their insti- 
tutions and customs to Mexican tribes, seem likewise to confirm their 
origin. That they came from Mexico by the Rio Colorado and head- 
waters of the Platte or Arkansas rivers to the Mississippi, is not at 
all improbable; but when they came is a problem which can not be so 
easily solved. — F. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 53 

western side in California, because that would require a west, 
or west-southwest course, and we had always been going 
south. We considered, moreover, that we risked losing the 
fruit of this voyage, of which we could give no information, 
if we should throw ourselves into the hands of the Spaniards, 
who would undoubtedly, at least, hold us as prisoners. Be- 
sides, it was clear, that we were not in a condition to resist 
Indians allied to Europeans, numerous and expert in the use 
of fire-arms, who continually infested the lower part of the 
river. Lastly, we had gathered all the information that 
could be desired from the expedition.* All these reasons 
induced us to resolve to return; this we announced to the 
Indians, and after a day's rest, prepared for it. 



SECTION IX. 

RETURN OF THE FATHER, AND THE FRENCH BAPTISM OF A DYING CHILD. 

After a month's navigation down the Missisipi, from the 
426. to below the 34th degree, and after having published the 
gospel as well as I could to the nations I had met, we left 
the village of Akamsea on the 17th of July, to retrace our 
steps. We accordingly ascended the Missisipi, which gave 

f The great object was to discover where the river emptied, and this 
did not require further progress. Marquette's voyage indeed settled it 
so completely, that we find no more hopes expressed of reaching the 
Pacific by the Mississippi. The missionary's fears of the Spaniards 
were not unnatural, as New Mexico was the avowed object of the ex- 
pedition, and the authorities there would certainly have prevented their 
return, for fear of opening a path to French encroachment. 



54 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



us great trouble to stem its currents.* We left it indeed, 
about the 38th degree, to enter another river, which greatly 
shortened our way, and brought us, with little trouble, to 
the lake of the Ilinois.f 

We had seen nothing like this river for the fertility of 
the land, its prairies, woods, wild cattle, stag, deer, wild- 
cats, bustards, swans, ducks, parrots, and even beaver; its 
many little lakes and rivers. That on which we sailed, is 
broad, deep, and gentle for sixty-five leagues. During the 
spring and part of the summer, the only portage is half a 
league. 

We found there an Ilinois town called Kaskaskia, com- 
posed of seventy-four cabins; they received us well, and 
compelled me to promise to return and instruct them. One 
of the chiefs of this tribe with his young men, escorted 
us to the Ilinois lake, whence at last we returned in the close 
of September to the bay of the Fetid, whence we had set out 
in the beginning of June. 

* The Mississippi is remarkable for its great length, uncommon depth, 
and the muddiness and salubrity of its waters after its junction with 
the Missouri. Below this river the banks present a rugged aspect; the 
channel is deep and crooked, and often winds from one side of the 
river to the other. The strength and rapidity of its current are such 
in high water, that before steam was used, it could not be stemmed 
without much labor and waste of time. At high water the current 
descends at the rate of five or six miles an hour, and in low water at 
the rate of two or three miles only. Between the Arkansas and the 
Delta the velocity of the current is diminished nearly one-third; and 
from this to the sea, about one-half. In 1727, it took Father du Poisson, 
missionary to the Arkansas, to make a voyage from New Orleans to 
that mission, including some stoppages, from the 25th May to the 
7th July.— F. 

t Lake Michigan was so called for a long time, probably from the 
fact that through it lay the direct route to the Ilinois villages, which 
Father Marquette was now the first to visit. Marest erroneously treats 
the name as a mistake of geographers, and is one of the first to call it 
Michigan. The river which Marquette now ascended has been more 
fortunate, it still bears the name of Illinois. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 55 



Had all this voyage caused but the salvation of a single 
soul, I should deem all my fatigue well repaid, and this I 
have reason to think, for, when I was returning, I passed by 
the Indians of Peoria.* I was three days announcing the 
faith in all their cabins, after which as we were embarking, 
they brought me on the water's edge a dying child, which I 
baptized a little before it expired, by an admirable Provi- 
dence for the salvation of that innocent soul.f 

* Unfortunately he does not tell us where he met these roving Peor- 
ians, who thus enabled him to keep his promise to resist them. As 
they have left their name on the Ilinois river, he may have found 
them there, below the Kaskaskias who, no less erratic, left their name 
to a more southerly river, and to a town at its mouth, on the Missis- 
sippi. It must then be borne in mind that Marquette's Peoria, and his 
and Alloues' town of Kaskaskia are quite different from the present 
places of the name in situation. The Ilinois seemed to have formed a 
link between the wandering Algonquin and the fixed Iroquois ; they had 
villages like the latter, and though they roved like the former, they 
roved in villages. 

f The following table of distances offer the best means of forming 
some idea of the whole distance passed over by M. Jollyet and Father 
Marquette : 

MILES. 



From the mission of St. Ignac to Green bay about 218 

From Green bay (Puans) up Fox river to the portage 175 

From the portage down the Wisconsin to the Mississippi 175 

From the mouth of the Wisconsin to the mouth of the Arkansas. . 1,087 

From the mouth of the Arkansas to the Ilinois river 547 

From the mouth of the Ilinois to the Chicago 305 

From the Chicago to Green bay, by the lake shore 260 



2767 

Spark's Life of Marquette. 




CHAPTER II. 



NARRATIVE OF THE SECOND VOYAGE 
TO THE ILLINOIS TO CARRY THE 
DEATH OF THE SAME FATHER IN 



MADE BY FATHER JAMES MARQUETTE 
FAITH TO THEM, AND THE GLORIOUS 
THE LABORS OF HIS MISSION. 



SECTION I. 

THE FATHER SETS OUT A SECOND TIME FOR THE ILLINOIS. — HE ARRIVES 
THERE IN SPITE OF HIS ILLNESS AND FOUNDS THE MISSION OF THE 
CONCEPTION. 

FATHER JAMES' MARQUETTE having promised the 
Uinois, called Kaskaskia, to return among them to 
teach them our mysteries, had great difficulty in keeping his 
word. The great hardships of his first voyage had brought 
on a dysentery, and had so enfeebled him, that he lost all 
hope of undertaking a second voyage. Yet, his malady 
having given way and almost ceased toward the close of 
summer in the following year, he obtained permission of his 
superiors to return to the Ilinois to found that noble mis- 
sion.* 

* By his last journal, which we publish entire from his autograph, 
we learn that Father Marquette was detained at the mission of St. 
Francis Xavier, in Green bay, during the whole summer of 1674. Re- 
covering in September, he drew up and sent to his superiors, copies 
of his journal down the Mississippi, and having received orders to 
repair to the Illinois, set out, on the 25th of October, with two men 

named Pierre Porteret and Jacques . They crossed the peninsula 

which forms the eastern side of Green bay, and began to coast along 
the shore of Lake Michigan, accompanied by some Ilinois and Potta- 
watomies. They advanced but slowly by land and water, frequently 
arrested by the state of the lake. On the 23d of November, the good 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. ^7 

He set out for this purpose in the month of November, 
1674, from the Bay of the Fetid, with two men, one of whom 
had already made that voyage with him. During a month's 
navigation on the Ilinois lake, he was pretty well; but as 
soon as the snow began to fall, he was again seized with the 
dysentery which forced him to stop in the river which leads 
to the Ilinois. There they raised a cabin and spent the win- 
ter in such want of every comfort that his illness constantly 
increased; he felt that God had granted him the grace he 
had so often asked, and he even plainly told his companions 

missionary was again seized by his malady, but he pushed on, and by 
the 4th of December, had reached the Chicago, which connects by 
portage with the Ilinois. But the river was now frozen, and though 
they attempted to proceed, the pious missionary submitted to the neces- 
sity, and deprived even of the consolation of saying mass on his patronal 
feast, the Immaculate Conception, resolved at last, on the 14th, to 
winter at the portage, as his illness increased. His Indian companions 
now left him, and though aided by some French traders, he suffered 
much during the following months. Of this, however, he says nothing. 
"The Blessed Virgin Immaculate," says his journal, "has taken such 
care of us during our wandering, that we have never wanted food; 
we have lived very comfortably; my illness not having prevented my 
saying mass every day." How little can we realize the faith and self- 
denial which could give so pleasant a face to a winter passed by a 
dying man in a cabin open to the winds. The Ilinois aware of his 
presence so near them, sent indeed; but so gross were their ideas of 
his object, that they asked the dying missionary for powder and goods. 
" I have come to instruct you, and speak to you of the prayer," was 
his answer. " Powder, I have not ; we come to spread peace through 
the land, and I do not wish to see you at war with the Miamis." As 
for goods, he could but encourage the French to continue their trade. 
Despairing at last of human remedies, the missionary and his two pious 
companions began a novena, or nine days' devotion to the Blessed 
Virgin Immaculate. From its close he began to gain strength, and 
when the freshet compelled them to remove their cabin, on the 29th 
of March he set out again on his long interrupted voyage, the river 
being now open; his last entry is of the 6th of April, when the wind 
and cold compelled them to halt. He never found time to continue his 
journal; and his last words are a playful allusion to the hardships 
undergone by the traders, in which he sympathized, while insensible of 
his own. 



58 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

so, assuring them that he would die of that illness, and on 
that voyage. To prepare his soul for its departure, he began 
that rude wintering by the exercises of St. Ignatius,* which, 
in spite of his great bodily weakness, he performed with deep 
sentiments of devotion, and great heavenly consolation; and 
then spent the rest of his time in colloquies with all heaven, 
having no more intercourse with earth, amid these deserts, 
except with his two companions whom he confessed and com- 
municated twice a week, and exhorted as much as his 
strength allowed. Some time after Christmas, in order to 
obtain the grace not to die without having taken possession 
of his beloved mission, he invited his companions to make a 
novena in honor of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed 
Virgin. Contrary to all human expectation he was heard 
and recovering found himself able to proceed to the Ilinois 
town as soon as navigation was free; this he accomplished 
in great joy, setting out on the 29th of March. He was 
eleven days on the way, where he had ample matter for suf- 
fering, both from his still sickly state, and from the severity 
and inclemency of the weather. 

Having at last reached the town on the 8th of April, he 
was received there as an angel from heaven; and after having 
several times assembled the chiefs of the nation with all the 
old men (anciens),t to sow in their minds the first seed of 
the gospel; after carrying his instructions into the cabins, 
which were always filled with crowds of people, he resolved 
to speak to all publicly in general assembly, which he con- 

* These are a series of meditation on the great truths of religion — the 
object of man's creation, the work of his redemption, and the means 
of attaining the former by participating in the latter. To spend a num- 
ber of days in revolving these serious thoughts is called making a 
retreat. % 

t I have my doubts whether anciens, in these French accounts, does 
not mean sachems, the rulers of the tribe. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 59 

voked in the open fields, the cabins being too small for the 
meeting. A beautiful prairie near the town was chosen for 
the great council ; it was adorned in the fashion of the coun- 
try, being spread with mats and bear skins, and the father 
having hung on cords some pieces of India taffety, attached 
to them four large pictures of the Blessed Virgin, which 
were thus visible on all sides. The auditory was composed 
of five hundred chiefs and old men, seated in a circle around 
the father, while the youth stood without to the number of 
fifteen hundred, not counting women and children, who are 
very numerous, the town being composed of five or six hun- 
dred fires. 

The father spoke to all this gathering, and addressed them 
ten words by ten presents which he made them;* he ex- 
plained to them the principal mysteries of our religion, and 
the end for which he had come to their country; and es- 
pecially he preached to them Christ crucified, for it was the 
very eve of the great day on which he died on the cross for 
them, as well as for the rest of men. He then said mass. 

Three days after, on Easter Sunday, things being arranged 
in the same manner as on Thursday, he celebrated the holy 
mysteries for the second time, and by these two sacrifices, 
the first ever offered there tp God, he took possession of 
that land in the name of Jesus Christ, and gave this mission 
the name of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed 
Virgin. 

He was listened to with universal joy and approbation by 
all this people, who earnestly besought him to return as soon 

* Words addressed to Indians, when not accompanied by a wampum 
belt, were considered unimportant ; and the missionary who first an- 
nounced the gospel in a village, always spoke by the belt of the prayer, 
which he held in his hand, and which remained to witness his words 
when the sound had died away. 



60 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

as possible among them, since his malady obliged him to 
leave them. The father, on his part, showed them the affec- 
tion he bore them, his satisfaction at their conduct, and gave 
hi9 word that he or some other of our fathers would return to 
continue this mission so happily begun. This promise he re- 
peated again and again, on parting with them to begin his 
journey. He set out amid such marks of friendship from 
these good people, that they escorted him with pomp more 
than thirty leagues of the way, contending with one another 
for the honor of carrying his little baggage. 



SECTION II. 

THE FATHER IS COMPELLED TO LEAVE HIS ILINOIS MISSION. — HIS LAST 
ILLNESS. — HIS PRECIOUS DEATH AMID THE FORESTS. 

After the Ilinois had taken leave of the father, rilled with 
a great idea of the gospel, he continued his voyage, and soon 
after reached the Ilinois lake, on which he had nearly a hun- 
dred leagues to make by an unknown route, because he was 
obliged to take the southern [eastern] side of the lake, hav- i 
ing gone thither by the northern [western] . His strength, 
however, failed so much, that his men despaired of being 
able to carry him alive to their journey's end; for, in fact, 
he became so weak and exhausted, that he could no longer 
help himself, nor even stir, and had to be handled and car- 
ried like a child. 

He nevertheless maintained in this state an admirable 
equanimity, joy, and gentleness, consoling his beloved com- 
panions, and encouraging them to suffer courageously all 
the hardships of the way, assuring them that our Lord would 
not forsake them when he was gone. During this naviga- 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 6l 

tion he began to prepare more particularly for death, passing 
his time in colloquies with our Lord, with His holy mother, 
with his angel-guardian, or with all heaven. He was often 
heard pronouncing these words : " I believe that my Re- 
deemer liveth," or, " Mary, mother of grace, mother of God, 
remember me." Besides a spiritual reading made for him 
every day, he toward the close asked them to read him his 
meditation on the preparation for death, which he carried 
about him: he recited his breviary every day; and although 
he was so low, that both sight and strength had greatly 
failed, he did not omit it till the last day of his life, when 
his companions induced him to cease, as it was shortening 
his days, 

A week before his death, he had the precaution to bless 
some holy water, to serve him during the rest of his illness, 
in his agony, and at his burial, and he instructed his com- 
panions how to use it. 

The eve of his death, which was a Friday, he told them, 
all radiant with joy, that it would take place on the morrow. 
During the whole day he conversed with them about the 
manner of his burial, the way in which he should be laid 
out, the place to be selected for his interment ; he told them 
how to arrange his hands, feet, and face, and directed them 
to raise a cross over his grave. He even went so far as to 
enjoin them, only three hours before he expired, to take his 
chapel-bell, as soon as he was dead, and ring it while they 
carried him to the grave. Of all this he spoke so calmly and 
collectedly, that you would have thought that he spoke of 
the death and burial of another, and not of his own. 

Thus did he speak with them as they sailed along the lake, 
till, perceiving the mouth of a river, with an eminence on 
the bank which he thought suited for his burial, he told 
them that it was the place of his last repose. They wished, 



62 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

however, to pass on, as the weather permitted it, and the day 
was not far advanced; but God raised a contrary wind, 
which obliged them to return and enter the river pointed out 
by Father Marquette.* 

They then carried him ashore, kindled a little fire, and 
raised for him a wretched bark cabin, where they laid him as 
little uncomfortably as they could; but they were so over- 
come by sadness, that, as they afterward said, they did not 
know what they were doing. 

The father being thus stretched on the shore, like St. 
Francis Xavier, as he had always so ardently desired, and 
left alone amid those forests — for his companions were en- 
gaged in unloading — he had leisure to repeat all the acts in 
which he had employed himself during the preceding days. 

When his dear companions afterward came up, all de- 
jected, he consoled them, and gave them hopes that God 
would take care of them after his death in those new and un- 
known countries; he gave them his last instructions, thanked 
them for all the charity they had shown him during the voy- 
age, begged their pardon for the trouble he had given them, 
and directed them also to ask pardon in his name of all our 
fathers and brothers in the Ottawa country, and then dis- 
posed them to receive the sacrament of penance, which he 
administered to them for the last time; he also gave them a 
paper on which he had written all his faults since his last 
confession, to be given to his superior, to oblige him to pray 
more earnestly for him. In fine, he promised not to forget 

* A marginal note says, " This river now bears the father's name." 
It was indeed long called Marquette river, but from recent maps the 
name seems to have been forgotten. Its Indian name is Notispescago, 
and according to others, Aniniondibeganining. It is a very small stream, 
not more than fifteen paces long, being the outlet of a small lake, as 
Charlevoix assures us. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 63 

them in heaven, and as he was very kind-hearted, and knew 
them to be worn out with the toil of the preceding days, he 
bade them go and take a little rest, assuring them that his 
hour was not yet so near, but that he would wake them 
when it was time, as in fact he did, two or three hours after, 
calling them when about to enter his agony. 

When they came near he embraced them for the last time, 
while they melted in tears at his feet; he then asked for the 
holy water and his reliquary, and taking off his crucifix 
which he wore around his neck, he placed it in the hands of 
one, asking him to hold it constantly opposite him, raised 
before his eyes ; then feeling that he had but a little time to 
live, he made a last effort, clasped his hands, and with his 
eyes fixed sweetly on his crucifix, he pronounced aloud his 
profession of faith, and thanked the Divine Majesty for the 
immense grace he did him in allowing him to die in the 
society of Jesus ; to die in it as a missionary of Jesus Christ, 
and above all to die in it, as he had always asked, in a 
wretched cabin, amid the forests, destitute of all human aid. 

On this he became silent, conversing inwardly with God; 
yet from time to time words escaped him : " Sustinuit anima 
mea in verba ejus," or " Mater Dei, memento mei," which 
were the last words he uttered before entering on his agony, 
which was very calm and gentle. 

He had prayed his companions to remind him, when they 
saw him about to expire, to pronounce frequently the names 
of Jesus and Mary. When he could not do it himself, they 
did it for him ; and when they thought him about to pass, one 
cried aloud Jesus Maria, which he several times repeated dis- 
tinctly, and then, as if at those sacred names something had 
appeared to him, he suddenly raised his eyes above his cruci- 
fix, fixing them apparently on some object which he seemed 
to regard with pleasure, and thus with a countenance all 



64 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

radiant with smiles, he expired without a struggle, as gently 
as if he had sunk into a quiet sleep. 

His two poor companions, after shedding many tears over 
his body, and having laid it out as he had directed, carried 
it devoutly to the grave, ringing the bell according to his 
injunction, and raised a large cross near it to serve as a 
mark for passers-by. 

When they talked of embarking, one of them, who for 
several days had been overwhelmed with sadness, and so 
racked in body by acute pains that he could neither eat nor 
breathe without pain, resolved, while his companion was pre- 
paring all for embarkation, to go to the grave of his good 
father, and pray him to intercede for him with the glorious 
Virgin, as he had promised, not doubting but that he was 
already in heaven. He accordingly knelt down, said a short 
prayer, and having respectfully taken some earth from the 
grave, he put it on his breast, and the pain immediately 
ceased; his sadness was changed into a joy, which continued 
during the rest of his voyage. 



SECTION III. 

WHAT OCCURRED IN THE TRANSPORT OF THE BONES OF THE LATE FATHER 
MARQUETTE, WHICH WERE TAKEN UP ON THE I9TH OF MAY, 1677, THE 
ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH TWO YEARS BEFORE. — SKETCH OF HIS VIRTUES. 

God did not choose to suffer so precious a deposite to re- 
main unhonored and f orgotten amid the woods. The Kiska- 
kon Indians,* who, for the last ten years, publicly professed 

* Of the Kiskakons little more is known than is here stated. They 
are, I think, first mentioned in a letter of F. Allouez, in the Relation of 
1666-67. The name Kiskakon given in this narrative, and the Relation 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 65 

Christianity in which they were first instructed by Father 
Marquette, when stationed at Lapointe du Saint Esprit at 
the extremity of Lake Superior, were hunting last winter on 
the banks of Lake Ilinois ; and as they were returning early 
in spring, they resolved to pass by the tomb of their good 
father, whom they tenderly loved; and God even gave them 
the thought of taking his remains and bringing them to our 
church at the mission of St. Ignatius, at Missilimakinac, 
where they reside. 

They accordingly repaired to the spot and deliberated to- 
gether, resolved to act with their father, as they usually do 
with those whom they respect; they accordingly opened the 
grave, unrolled the body, and though the flesh and intestines 
were all dried up, they found it whole without the skin 
being in any way injured. This did not prevent their dis- 
secting it according to custom ; they washed the bones, and 
dried them in the sun, then putting them neatly in a box of 
birch bark, they set out to bear them to the house of St. 
Ignatius. 

The convoy consisted of nearly thirty canoes in excellent 
order; including even a good number of Iroquois who had 
joined our Algonquins to honor the ceremony. As they ap- 
proached our house, Father Nouvel, who is superior, went 

of i673-'79 is, I suppose, the longer name Kichkakoueiac of the Relation 
of 1672-73, which places them at that time near Sault St. Mary's, the 
Hurons being then alone at Mackinac. The last Relation (1673-79) 
states their number then at 1,300, all Christians; they subsequently 
appear in collision with the Iroquois, but are soon lost sight of ; if they 
have disappeared from the nations, it was not in their infidelity; many, 
we may trust, were faithful to the graces they received, and if they have 
melted away before our encroachments, it is a reason why we should 
bless the men who sought to save their souls without caring whether 
a century later any would exist to show the endurance of their labors. 
It has been justly remarked of the catholic missions that, "they ended 
only with the extinction of the tribe." 



66 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

to meet them with Father Pierson,* accompanied by all the 
French Indians of the place, and having caused the convoy 
to stop, made the ordinary interrogations to verify the fact, 
that the body which they bore was really Father Marquette's. 
Then, before landing, he intoned the " De Profundis " in 
sight of the thirty canoes still on the water, and of all the 
people on the shores; after this the body was carried to the 
church, observing all that the ritual prescribes for such cere- 
monies. It remained exposed under a pall stretched as if 
over a coffin all that day, which was Whitsun-Monday, the 
8th of June; and the next day, when all the funeral honors 
had been paid it, it was deposited in a little vault in the 
middle of the church, where he reposes as the guardian angel 
of our Ottawa missions. The Indians often come to pray 
on his tomb, and to say no more, a young woman of about 
nineteen or twenty, whom the late father had instructed and 
baptized last year, having fallen sick, asked Father Nouvel 
to bleed her, and give her some remedies; but in place of 
medicine he bade her go for three days and say a pater and 
ave on the tomb of Father Marquette. She did so, and 
before the third day, was entirely cured without bleeding 
or other remedies. 

Father James Marquette, of the province of Champagne, 
died at the age of thirty-eight, of which he had spent twenty- 
one in the society, namely twelve in France, and nine in 
Canada. He was sent to the missions of the upper Algon- 

* Father Nouvel was the Ottawa, and Father Pierson the Huron mis- 
sionary. Each nation had its village apart, at a distance of three quar- 
ters of a league from each other. The church here spoken of was built 
apparently in 1674, while F. Marquette was there (Rel. 1672-73, and 
i673-*79) ; it lay nearest the Huron village, which Hennepin thus de- 
scribes : " It is surrounded with palisades twenty-five feet high, and 
situated near a great point of land opposite the island of Missilimakinac." 
— Description de la Louisiane, p. 62. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 67 

quins, called Ottawas, and labored there with all the zeal that 
could be expected in a man who had taken St. Francis 
Xavier as the model of his life and death. He imitated that 
great saint, not only in the variety of the barbarous lan- 
guages which he learned, but also by the vastness of his zeal 
which made him bear the faith to the extremity of this new 
world, nearly eight hundred leagues from her, in forests 
where the name of Jesus had never been announced. 

He always begged of God to end his days in these toil- 
some missions, and to die amid the woods like his beloved St. 
Francis Xavier, in utter want of everything. To attain this 
he daily employed the merits of Christ and the intercession 
of the Immaculate Virgin, for whom his devotion was 
equally rare and tender. 

By such powerful mediators, he obtained what he so earn- 
estly asked, since he had the happiness to die like the apostle 
of the Indies, in a wretched cabin on the banks of Lake 
Ilinois, forsaken by all. 

We could say much of the rare virtues of this generous 
missionary, of his zeal which made him carry the faith so 
far, and announce the gospel to so many nations unknown to 
us ; of his meekness which endeared him to every one, and 
which made him all to all — French with the French, Huron 
with the Hurons, Algonquin with the Algonquins; of his 
childlike candor in discovering his mind to his superiors, 
and even to all persons with an ingenuousness that gained 
all hearts, of his angelic purity and continual union with 
God. 

But his predominant virtue was a most. rare and singular 
devotion to the Blessed Virgin, and especially to the mystery 
of the Immaculate Conception ; it was a pleasure to hear him 
preach or speak on this subject. Every conversation and let- 
ter of his contained something about the Blessed Virgin Im- 



68 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

maculate, as he always styled her. From the age of nine, 
he fasted every Saturday; and from his most tender youth 
began to recite daily the little office of the Conception, and 
inspired all to adopt this devotion. For some months before 
his death, he daily recited, with his two men, a little chaplet 
of the Immaculate Conception, which he had arranged in 
this form; after the creed, they said one " Our Father and 
hail Mary/' then four times these words : " Hail daughter 
of God the Father, hail mother of God the Son, hail spouse 
of the Holy Ghost, hail temple of the whole Trinity, by thy 
holy virginity and immaculate conception, O most pure Vir- 
gin, cleanse my flesh and my heart. In the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," and last 
of all the " Glory be to the Father/' &c, the whole being 
thrice repeated. 

He never failed to say the mass of the Conception, or at 
least the collect, whenever he could; he thought of nothing 
else scarcely by night or by day, and to leave us an eternal 
mark of his sentiments, he gave the name of the Conception 
to the Ilinois mission. 

So tender a devotion to the mother of God, deserved some 
singular grace, and she accordingly granted him the favor he 
had always asked, to die on a Saturday;* and his two com- 
panions had no doubt that she appeared to him at the hour 
of his death when, after pronouncing the names of Jesus and 
Mary, he suddenly raised his eyes above his crucifix, fixing 
them on an object which he regarded with such pleasure, and 
a joy that lit up his countenance; and they, from that mo- 
ment, believed that he had surrendered his soul into the hands 
of his good mother. 

* In the devotions of Catholics, Saturday among the days of the week, 
like May among the months, is especially sat apart to honor her whom 
Jesus loved and honored as a mother. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 69 

One of the last letters which he wrote to the superior of 
the missions before his great voyage, will be a sufficient in- 
stance of his sentiments. It began thus : — 

" The Blessed Virgin Immaculate has obtained for me the 
grace to arrive here in good health, and resolved to corre- 
spond to God's designs upon me, since he has destined me to 
the voyage to the south. I have no other thought than to do 
what God wills. I fear nothing; neither the Nadouessii, nor 
the meeting of nations alarms me. One of two things must 
come: either God will punish me for my crimes and omis- 
sions, or else he will share his cross with me (for I have not 
borne it yet since I have been in this country, though, per- 
haps, it has been obtained for me by the Blessed Virgin Im- 
maculate), or perhaps death to cease to offend God. For this 
I will endeavor to hold myself ready, abandoning myself 
entirely in his hands. I pray your reverence not to forget 
me, and to obtain of God, that I may not remain ungrateful 
for the favors he heaps upon me." 

There was found among his papers a book entitled, " The 
Conduct of God toward a Missionary," in which he shows 
the excellence of that vocation, the advantages for self- 
sanctification to be found in it, and the care which God 
takes of his gospel-laborers. This little work shows the 
spirit of God by which he was actuated. 




NARKATIVE 

OF 

A VOYAGE MADE TO THE ILINOIS, 

BY 

FATHER CLAUDE ALLOUEZ* 



SECTION I. 

FATHER ALLOUEZ SETS OUT ON THE ICE. — A YOUNG MAN KILLED BY A 
BEAR. — VENGEANCE TAKEN. — VARIOUS CURIOSITIES ON THE WAY. 

WHILE preparing for my departure, as the weather was 
not yet suitable, I made some visits in the bay where 
I baptized two sick adults, one of whom died next day; the 
other lived a month longer; he was a poor old man, who 

* " Father Claude Allouez, has imperishably connected his name with 
the progress of discovery in the west," says Bancroft. Unhonored among 
us now, he was not inferior in zeal or ability to any of the great mission- 
aries of his time. He is not, indeed, encircled with that halo of sanctity 
which characterizes the first Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries of New 
France, nor do his writings display the learning and refinement which 
show in some the greatness of their sacrifice; but, as a fearless and de- 
voted missionary, one faithful to his high calling, a man of zeal and 
worth, he is entitled to every honor. No record tells us the time or place 
of his birth. We meet him first as a Jesuit, seeking a foreign mission. 
An entry in his journal has been preserved, in which, under the date of 
March 3d, 1657, he expresses his rapture on receiving permission to 
embark for Canada. That he was not led by any erroneous idea of the 
field which he solicited, we know by his own words. He sought only 
to labor and suffer; man can not command results, nor will his reward 
depend upon them. " To convert our barbarians, or savages, of Canada," 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 7 1 



being decrepit and half deaf, was the laughing stock and 
outcast of all, even of his children; but God did not cast him 
out; he did him the grace to enrol him among his children 

says he, "we need work no miracle but that of doing them good, and 
suffering without complaint, except to God, regarding ourselves as 
useless servants." 

He sailed from France with two lay brothers in the vessel which took 
out the new governor Viscount d'Argenson, in 1658, and by the eleventh 
of July arrived safely at Quebec. Selected for the Algonquin missions, 
he soon after began the study of the Indian languages. In the following 
year he saw two of his order, Garreau and Druilletes, embark for Lake 
Superior, where Father Jogues and Father Raymbault had planted the 
cross seventeen years before, to continue the interrupted work ; but one 
was killed, the other abandoned near Montreal. When made superior 
at Three-Rivers, in 1660, he saw his predecessor, the fearless Rene 
Menard, depart for a distant goal, to die amid the rocks and woods 
of the Menominee, on his way to Green Bay. This field of toil and 
danger was still the object of Allouez' desires. Destined to it in 1664, 
he reached Montreal, but the Ottawas had not come there as late as 
usual. He had now to wait another year ; but, with him, time rolled not 
away in idleness ; a thorough Algonquin, not unacquainted with Iroquois, 
objects of zeal were everywhere to be found. On the 14th of May, 1665, 
he again left Quebec to meet them ; the " Angels of the upper Algon- 
quins " at last arrive; for so in his desire does he call the brutal men 
whose cruel treatment of the previous missionaries would have appalled 
any heart not borne up by supernatural motives. On the 7th of August, 
the flotilla finally started, and Allouez, after much suffering and ill-treat- 
ment, dauntlessly struggled on, and, by the first of September, was at 
Sault St. Mary's. Thrice had the Jesuits taken possession of that spot 
in the name of catholicity ; it was not now to be a permanent center. He 
did not stop here ; he explored, in his frail canoe, the whole southern 
shore of the vast upper lake, whose icy waters contrast so strangely with 
the fantastic scenery of the shore, still marked by the traces of that 
terrible fire which shivered its crags into a thousand forms, and poured 
the molten copper over them as if in mockery and sport. His first 
mission was at the Outchibouec (Ojibwa, or Chippeway) village of 
Chegoimegon. Here, in October, rose his chapel, dedicated to the Holy 
Ghost. Some Hurons and the Algonquin converts of Menard were 
already there ; to increase the number of the faithful, Allouez entered 
the arena to struggle till death, with the wild superstition of the Ottawa. 
Ten or twelve lake tribes were assembled at once in council at the spot. 
Pottawatomies, Sacs, Foxes, and even Illinois, swelled the numbers of 
those who gathered round that lone cross of the wilderness, with nations 
from the western sea, Dahcotahs, Assiniboins and Winnebagoes, with 

11 



72 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER ALLOUEZ. 



by baptism, and to receive him into heaven, as I have every 
reason to believe. 

In another visit which I made to the nation of the Outa- 

their Tartar dialect and thought. To all these he announced the intolerant 
faith of the cross, which required a total renunciation of their traditions, 
an unreserved acceptance of its dogmas. Each tribe departed with this 
first glimpse of truth, prepared to receive a clear development as time 
■went on. And now came tidings that touched the heart of Allouez ; on a 
lake north of Superior, were gathered some Nipissings, sad remnants of 
a once powerful tribe, but now like the Huron, Christians and fugitives 
before the face of the Iroquois. Menard died while seeking the Huron; 
but unappalled by aught, Allouez hastened to their relief. Scarcely had 
he reached Chegoimegon again, in 1667, when a flotilla was about start- 
ing for Quebec; he embarked to secure companions, and explain to his 
Superiors the vastness of the new field which he had seen, and of the 
still greater, but untried one which lay along the mighty " Mes-sipi." 
On the 4th of August he reached that city, the 6th embarked again 
for the west with the aid he needed. Father Louis Nicholas, and a 
lay brother set out with him. Once in the west, he resumed his toils, as 
though returned' from a voyage of pleasure, and struggled on another 
year at the lake. Then joined by Marquette and later by Dablon, he 
hastened to a new field. He mounted Fox river and laid the foundation 
of the mission of St. Francis Xavier. In 1671, the great council of the 
French commander, with the Indians, required the presence of the mis- 
sionaries, and especially of Allouez, at the Sault St. Mary's as interpre- 
ters. Nouvel was now superior of the western missions, and from him 
they received a new impulse. Of the three missionary stations now 
established, the Sault, Mackinaw, and Green Bay, the last was given to 
Allouez. In 1672, aided by F. Andre, he instructed the Foxes and Fire 
nation, and again ascended Fox river to Maskoutens to preach to the 
Maskoutens, Miamis, Kikapoos and Ilinois, assembled there. As he de- 
scended, he threw down a rude, unshapely rock, honored at Kakaling by 
the adoration of the benighted Indian. The next year he was stationed 
at St. James, or Maskoutens, where he planted the cross as the limit 
of his discoveries and labors. They were not grateful for his toil, while 
superstition, and indifference almost neutralized his efforts. With the 
Fox and Pottawatomi, he was more successful. In the following years, 
he was assisted by F. Silvy and F. Bonneault, and met with greater 
consolations. 

On the death of Marquette, he was appointed to the Ilinois mission, 
and we now publish for the first time, the account of his journey. This 
visit was in 1676. 

Two years afterward, he repaired to it once more, and remained till 
the following year, when on learning the approach of La Salle, he re- 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 73 



gamies (Foxes), I baptized six children almost all at the 
point of death. I was much consoled to see a marked change 
in the mind of these people ; God visits them by his scourges 
to render them more docile to our instructions. 

After these excursions, the time being proper for depart- 
ing, I embarked about the close of October, 1676, in a canoe 
with two men to endeavor to go and winter with the Ilinois; 
but I had not got far when the ice prevented us, so early had 
the winter set in. This obliged us to lie to and wait till 
it was strong enough to bear us ; and it was only in February 
that we undertook a very extraordinary kind of navigation, 

tired, as that great traveller had conceived a strong prejudice against 
him, in consequence of some correspondence between him and his fellow 
missionary on the Seneca country, Father Gamier. La Mothe, La Salle's 
lieutenant, had even required the Seneca sachems to cause the latter to 
leave the lodge at a conference between them. Allouez cared not to 
meet, in anger, La Salle, whom he had doubtless known in France 
before, when he was a Jesuit like himself ; he therefore returned to his 
missions in Wisconsin to wait till the mind of the gifted but irritable 
explorer should recover from its false impressions. Unfortunately it 
proved the reverse, if some accounts are to be credited ; La Salle impli- 
cated him in some efforts made by the western traders to excite the 
Ilinois against him. To clear Father Allouez of this charge, we need no 
better proof than the friendly relations between him and Tonty, than 
whom there was surely no man more faithful to the interest and honor 
of La Salle. Allouez went to Ilinois again in 1684, with Durantaye, 
when he probably remained for some time. He was there in 1687, when 
the survivors of La Salle's last expedition reached Fort St. Louis, in 
Ilinois, but left for Mackinaw on the arrival of F. Anastasius Douay, 
and M. Cavelier, in consequence of their false report that La Salle was 
alive. Father Allouez, however, still clung to his beloved Ilinois mission, 
which events had thus strangely disturbed ; and I am inclined to think, 
from a deed which fell into my hands, that he was at Fort St. 
Louis, in the winter of 1689. If so, it was his last visit. A letter dated 
in August, 1690, details the virtues of the great and holy missionary of 
the west. He had gone to receive the reward of his labors. 

The authorities for his life are the superior's journal, the Relations 
from i663-'64 to i67i-'72; MS. Rel. 1672-73, i673-'79, 1678; MSS. of 
a Jesuit, in 1690; Joutel and Tonty's journals published in Hist. Coll. of 
Louisiana. 



74 NARRATIVE OF FATHER ALLOUEZ. 

for instead of putting the canoe in the water, we put it on 
the ice, on which a favorable wind carried it along by sails, 
as if it was on water. When the wind failed us, instead 
of paddles, we used ropes to drag it as horses do a carriage. 
Passing near the Poiiteoutamis, I learned that a young man 
had been lately killed by the bears. I had previously baptized 
him at Lapointe du St. Esprit, and was acquainted with his 
parents; this obliged me to turn a little off my way to go 
and console them. They told me that the bears get fat in 
the fall and remain so, and even grow fatter during the whole 
winter, although they do not eat as naturalists have re- 
marked. They hide in hollow trees, especially the females, 
to bring forth their young, or else they lie on fir branches 
which they tear off on purpose to make a bed on the snow, 
which they do not leave all winter, unless discovered by the 
hunters and their dogs trained to this chase. This young 
man having discovered one hidden in some fir-branches, 
fired all the arrows of his quiver at him. The bear feeling 
himself wounded, but not mortally, rose, rushed upon him, 
clawed off his scalp, and tearing out his bowels, scattered 
him all in pieces around. I found his mother in deep afflic- 
tion; we offered up together prayers for the deceased, and 
though my presence had at first redoubled her grief, she 
wiped away her tears, saying for consolation : " Paulinus is 
dead; that good Paulinus whom thou didst always come to 
call to prayer." 

Then to avenge, as they said, this murder, the relatives 
and friends of the deceased made war on the bears while 
they were good — that is, during the winter; for in summer 
they are lean, and so famished, that they eat even toads and 
snakes. The war was so vigorous, that in a little while they 
killed more than five hundred, which they shared with us, 
saying that God had given them into our hands, to make 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 75 

them atone for the death of this young man who had been 
so cruelly treated by one of their nation. 

Twelve leagues from the Poiiteaouatami town we entered 
a very deep bay, whence we transported our canoe across the 
wood to the great lake of the Uinois [Michigan] . This port- 
age was a league and a half. On the eve of St. Joseph, the 
patron of all Canada, finding ourselves on the lake, we gave 
it the name of that great saint, and shall henceforth call it 
Lake St. Joseph. We accordingly embarked on the 23d of 
May, and had much to do with the ice, through which we 
had to break a passage. The water was so cold, that it froze 
on our oars, and on the side of the canoe which the sun 
did not reach. It pleased God to deliver us from the danger 
we were in on landing, when a gust of wind drove the cakes 
of ice on one side of our canoe, and the other on the ice 
which was fast to the shore. Our great trouble was, that 
the rivers being still frozen, we could not enter them till 
the 3d of April. We consecrated that which we at last en- 
tered in holy week by planting a large cross on the shore, in 
order that the Indians, who go there in numbers to hunt — 
either in canoes on the lake, or on foot in the woods — might 
remember the instructions we had given them on that mys- 
tery, and that the sight of it might excite them to pray. 
The next day we saw a rock seven or eight feet out of water, 
and two or three fathoms around, and called it the Pitch 
rock. In fact, we saw the pitch running down in little drops 
on the side which was warmed by the sun. We gathered 
some, and found it good to pitch our canoes, and I even use 
it to seal my letters.* We also saw, the same day, another 
rock, a little smaller, part in and part out of water; the part 

* An American mineral, resembling asphaltum. It is of a brown 
color, inclining to black, and sometimes so liquid that it flows in a stream 
down the sides of this rock. — F. 



76 NARRATIVE OF FATHER ALLOUEZ. 

washed by the water was of a very bright and clear red. 
Some days after, we saw a stream running from a hill, the 
waters of which seemed mineral; the sand is red, and the 
Indians said it came from a little lake where they have found 
pieces of copper. 

We advanced coasting always along vast prairies that 
stretched away beyond our sight; from time to time we saw 
trees, but so ranged that they seemed planted designedly to 
form alleys more agreeable to the sight than those of 
orchards. The foot of these trees is often watered by little 
streams, where we saw herds of stags and does drinking and 
feeding quietly on the young grass. We followed these vast 
plains for twenty leagues, and often said, " Benedicite opera 
Domini Domino." 

After making seventy-six leagues on Lake St. Joseph, we 
at last entered the river which leads to the Ilinois. I here 
met eighty Indians of the country, by whom I was hand- 
somely received. The chief advanced about thirty steps to 
meet me, holding in one hand a firebrand and in the other a 
feathered calumet. As he drew near, he raised it to my 
mouth, and himself lit the tobacco, which obliged me to pre- 
tend to smoke. He then led me into his cabin, and, giving 
me the most honorable place, addressed me thus : — 

" Father ! take pity on me : let me return with thee, to 
accompany thee and lead thee to my village; my meeting 
with thee to-day will be fatal to me, unless I profit by it. 
Thou bearest to us the gospel and the prayer : if I lose the 
occasion of hearing thee, I shall be punished by the loss of 
my nephews, whom thou seest so numerous, but who will 
assuredly be defeated by the enemy. Embark, then, with 
us, that I may profit by thy coming into our land." 

With these words he embarked at the same time as our- 
selves, and we soon after reached his village. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. JJ 



SECTION II. 

FATHER ALLOUEZ ARRIVES AT THE ILLINOIS TOWN. — DESCRIPTION OF IT AND 
THE COUNTRY. — THE FAITH PROCLAIMED TO ALL THESE NATIONS. 

In spite of all our efforts to hasten on, it was the 27th 
of April, before I could reach Kachkachkia, a large Ilinois 
town. I immediately entered the cabin where Father Mar- 
quette had lodged, and the sachems with all the people being 
assembled, I told them the object of my coming among them, 
namely, to preach to them the true, living, and immortal 
God, and his only Son, Jesus Christ. They listened very at- 
tentively to my whole discourse, and thanked me for the 
trouble I took for their salvation. 

I found this village much increased since last year. It 
was before composed of only one nation, the Kachkachkia. 
There are now eight; the first having called the others who 
dwelt in the neighborhood of the Missipi. You could not 
easily form an idea of the number of Indians who com- 
pose this town; they are lodged in three hundred and fifty- 
one cabins, easily counted, for they are mostly ranged on 
the banks of the river. 

The place which they have selected for their abode is situ- 
ated at 40 0 42'; it has on one side a prairie of vast extent, 
and on the other an expanse of marsh which makes the air 
unhealthy, and often loaded with mists; this causes much 
sickness and frequent thunder. They, however, like this 
post, because from it they can easily discover their enemies.* 

* This and the position assigned to the town of the Kaskaskias 
(40 0 42') would bring it near Rockfort, making allowance for the old 
latitude. When Father Marquette first visited it, he found seventy-four 
cabins r this was in 1673. The next year it had increased to five or six 
hundred fires, which, at the rate of four fires to a cabin, gives one 
hundred to one hundred and fifty cabins, with a population of two 



78 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER ALLOUEZ. 



These Indians are in character hardy, proud, and valiant. 
They are at war with eight or nine tribes; they do not use 
fire-arms, as they find them too awkward, and too slow; 
they carry them, however, when they march against nations 
unacquainted with their use, to terrify them by the noise, 
and thus rout them. They ordinarily carry only the war- 
club, bow, and a quiver full of arrows, which they discharge 
so adroitly and quickly, that men armed with guns, have 
hardly time to raise them to the shoulder. They also carry 
a large buckler made of skins of wild cattle; which is arrow- 
proof, and covers the whole body. 

They have many wives, of whom they are extremely jeal- 
ous leaving them on the least suspicion. The women usually 
behave well, and are modestly dressed, though the men are 
not, having no shame of their nakedness. 

They live on Indian corn, and other fruits of the earth, 
which they cultivate on the prairies, like other Indians. They 
eat fourteen kinds of roots which they find in the prairies; 
they made me eat them; I found them good and very sweet. 

thousand men, besides women and children. Father Allouez visiting it 
now in 1677, is very exact, and gives the number of cabins as three 
hundred and fifty-one. In 1680, the Recollect Father Membre estimates 
the population of the great village at seven or eight thousand, in four 
or five hundred cabins — this did not include the Kaskaskias, whom he 
seems to place on the Chicago river. Hennepin, at the same time, 
estimates it at " four hundred and sixty cabins, made like long bowers, 
covered with double mats of flat rushes, so well sowed as to be im- 
penetrable to wind, snow and rain. Each cabin has four or five fires, 
and each fire one two or families." — (p. 137.) It would seem, then, that 
Bancroft rejects too lightly the estimate given by Father Rale, in the 
Lettres Edifiantes, where he estimates their number at three hundred 
cabins, each of four or five fires, and two families to a fire. When their 
decadence began, they disappeared with great rapidity. Charlevoix, in 
1721, makes their number then to have been very inconsiderable, 
although he gives no estimate of the population of the Illinois, who 
still formed five distinct villages. At present, the remnant of the tribe 
does not comprise a hundred souls, yet all who remain are Christians. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 79 

They gather, on trees or plants, fruits of forty-two different 
kinds, which are excellent; they catch twenty-five kinds of 
fish, including eels. They hunt cattle, deer, turkeys, cats, a 
kind of tiger, and other animals, of which they reckon 
twenty-two kinds, and forty kinds of game and birds. In 
the lower part of the river there are, I am told, salt springs, 
from which they make salt; I can not speak from my own 
experience. They assure me, too, that there are quarries 
near their town of slate as fine as ours. I have seen here, 
as in the Ottawa country, copper, found here as elsewhere, 
on the banks of the river in lumps. They tell me too, that 
there are rocks of pitch like that I saw on the banks of Lake 
St. Joseph. The Indians cut it and find silvery veins, which, 
when pounded, give a fine red paint. They also find other 
veins, from which the pitch runs; when thrown in the fire, 
it burns like ours. 

This is all that I could remark in this country, during the 
short stay I made there. I will now tell what I did for 
Christianity. 

As I had but little time to remain, having come only to 
acquire the necessary information for the perfect establish- 
ment of a mission, I immediately set to work to give all the 
instruction I could to these eight different nations, by whom, 
by the help of God, I made myself sufficiently understood. 

I would go to the cabin of the chief of the particular tribe 
that I wished to instruct, and there preparing a little altar 
with my chapel ornaments, I exposed a crucifix, before which 
I explained the mysteries of our faith. I could not desire a 
greater number of auditors, nor a more favorable attention. 
They brought me their youngest children to be baptized, 
those older, to be instructed. They repeated themselves all 
the prayers that I taught them. In a word, after I had done 
the same in all the eight nations, I had the consolation of 



8o 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER ALLOUEZ. 



seeing Christ acknowledged by so many tribes, who needed 
only careful cultivation to become good Christians. This 
we hope to give hereafter, at leisure. 

I laid the foundation of this mission by the baptism of 
thirty-five children, and a sick adult, who soon after died, 
with one of the infants, to go and take possession of heaven 
in the name of the whole nation. And we too, to take pos- 
session of these tribes in the name of Jesus Christ, on the 
3d of May, the feast of the Holy Cross, erected in the midst 
of the town a cross twenty-five feet high, chanting the 
Vexilla Regis in the presence of a great number of Ilinois 
of all tribes, of whom I can say, in truth, that they did not 
take Jesus Christ crucified for a folly, nor for a scandal; 
on the contrary, they witnessed the ceremony with great 
respect, and heard all that I said on the mystery with ad- 
miration. The children even went to kiss the cross through 
devotion, and the old earnestly commended me to place it 
well so that it could not fall. 

The time of my departure having come, I took leave of 
all these tribes, and left them in a great desire of seeing me 
as soon as possible, which I more willingly induced them to 
expect; as, on the one hand, I have reason to thank God for 
the little crosses he has afforded me in this voyage, and on 
the other, I see the harvest all ready and very abundant. 
The devil will, doubtless, oppose us, and perhaps will, for 
the purpose, use the war which the Iroquois seek to make 
on the Ilinois. I pray our Lord to avert it, that so fair a 
beginning be not entirely ruined. 

" The next year, namely, 1678, Father Allouez set out to 
return to this mission, and to remain there two years in suc- 
cession, to labor more solidly for the conversion of these 
tribes. We have since learned that the Iroquois made an 
incursion as far as there, but were beaten by the Ilinois. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 8 1 

This will go far to enkindle the war between these nations, 
and do much to injure this mission, if God does not inter- 
pose."* 

* The concluding paragraph of this narrative is in the handwriting of 
Father Claude Dablon, the superior of the missions at the time. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE 



OF 

THE "ETABLISSEMENT DE LA FOI," 

BY 

FATHER CHRISTIAN LE CLERCQ, RECOLLECT. 

This curious and now rare work is the source whence all the following 
narratives, except Hennepin's, are drawn. It was published at Paris, by 
Aimable Auroy, in 1691, with the following very comprehensive title: 
" First Establishment of the Faith in New France, containing the Pub- 
lication of the Gospel, the History of the French Colonies, and the 
famous Discoveries from the Mouth of the St. Lawrence, Louisiana, 
and the River Colbert to the Gulf of Mexico, accomplished under the 
Direction of the late Monsieur de la Salle, by Order of the King, with 
the Victories gained in Canada, by the Arms of his Majesty over the 
English and Iroquois, in 1690. Dedicated to M. de Comte de Frontenac, 
Governor and Lieutenant-General of New France, by Father Christian 
le Clercq, Recollect Missionary of the Province of St. Anthony of 
Padua, in Arthois, and Warden of the Recollects of Lens." 

Of Father le Clercq, under whose name the work is thus published, 
we know little beyond what we glean from this work, and from his 
Relation de Gaspesie. He was a zealous and devout missionary on the 
wild coast of Gaspe, where he lived in most cordial and friendly rela- 
tions with the neighboring Jesuit missionaries, especially with Father 
Bigot, who speaks of him in the highest terms, as le Clercq did of him 
and his labors. He was the first novice of the province to which he 
belonged, and one of the first religious sent by it to Canada, in 1675. 
After spending five years as missionary at Isle Percee and Gaspe, he 
returned to Europe, was concerned in the establishment of a church and 
mission at Montreal, resumed for a time his missionary career, and was 
subsequently employed as superior in France. His Relation de Gaspesie 
is a description of his own field and his own labors ; the Etablissement 
assumes to be a general history of religion in Canada, and of La Salle's 
voyages, as tending to the establishment of missions. How far it 
realizes the promise of the title-page, we shall soon see. 



NOTICE ON FATHER LE CLERCQ. 



S3 



Had this work been a mere satirical pamphlet, we could at once under- 
stand it, and give it its proper value ; but in this light it can not be 
regarded; it contains much historical information, especially with re- 
spect to La Salle, being the first printed account of his voyage down the 
Mississippi, and his last fatal attempt. A striking feature in the work 
is its literary skepticism, as to a great mass of early works on Canada, 
and the similar doubts raised subsequently as to the Etablissement itself. 
Le Clercq, or the real author, doubts the authenticity of the Relation 
of 1626, ascribed to F. Charles Lalemant. The ground of this doubt is 
completely destroyed by the title of one of the chapters in Sagard's 
larger work; the doubt has, however, been raised within the last few 
years by men of research, though probably from want of a close 
study of the doubting humor of the author. Having thus thrown a 
slur on the first Relation, he next brings the whole forty volumes of 
Relations, from 1632 to 1672, into the same category, because for- 
sooth, from his high respect for the Jesuits, he can not believe they 
ever wrote them; and, finally, Father Marquette's published journal, 
which is, however, never ascribed to him, is treated as an imposture, 
and his voyage as pretended, on every possible occasion. 

This wholesale skepticism almost entitles him to a place with the 
celebrated Father Hardouin, who believed all the Greek and Latin 
classics to be forgeries. In a work like this, intended to show the 
validity of Marquette's claim, we must examine these doubts, and the 
person who makes them. Joutel, who contradicts the Etablissement 
pointedly in several places, says that it was composed on false relations, 
and thus gives some force to a charge brought in 1697, by the strange 
Hennepin, who asserts broadly that the Etablissement was published 
by Father Valentine le Roux, under the borrowed name of le Clercq; 
and he charges that the so-called narrative of Membre in the work, is 
really a transcript of the journal of his great voyage down the Missis- 
sippi, a copy of which he had left in le Roux's hands at Quebec. At a 
still later date, when all had become calm, Charlevoix states it as a 
common impression that Frontenac himself had a considerable hand 
in it. When with all this we remember that the first published narrative 
of Tonty is regarded as spurious, and that Mr. Sparks has irrefragably 
shown Hennepin's later works to be mere romances and literary 
thefts ; the whole series of works relative to La Salle seems drawn up 
or moulded to suit some party views, and to unravel the whole, we must 
examine what parties at the time agitated Canada. We find immediately 
that the civil and ecclesiastical authorities were then completely at var- 
iance, chiefly from two causes : The first was what may be called the 
brandy war, in which Bishop Laval seeing the injury done to the 
Indians by the sale of liquor, had pronounced ecclesiastical censures 
against those who carried on the nefarious traffic : his clergy, and es- 
pecially the Jesuits, sided with him and his successor entirely on this 
point, as being better able from daily intercourse to see the ruin of 



8 4 



NOTICE ON FATHER LE CLERCQ. 



the native tribes by the use of spirituous liquors. But if the ecclesias- 
tical authorities pronounced censures, the civil officers were not slow 
in taking up most curious modes of revenge; and ridicule, above all, 
was brought to play upon their antagonists. So far had public opinion 
vitiated, that in a memoir drawn up apparently by the intendant Du- 
chesneau with regard to the Indian village of Caughnawaga, the writer 
addressing the French court, deemed it necessary to defend the Jesuit 
missionaries against the charge of preventing the erection of any tavern 
on their lands at Laprairie, in the vicinity of their Indian village ! The 
only defence made is more curious ; it admits the fact, but denies 
the necessity of taverns there, as Montreal was full of them. In 
this brandy war, the Jesuits being in charge of the missions, were 
chiefly attacked, and soon after a new charge was made against them 
personally. 2. Frontenac especially insisted that Indian villages apart 
would never result in civilizing the natives; his plan was a complete 
fusion of the two races by bringing them into perfect contact. The 
missionaries convinced that Indians living among the whites were irre- 
coverably lost, adhered pertinaciously to their original system of sep- 
arate villages and gradual advancement. Frontenac's theory is much 
upheld by the Etablissement, and many arguments are adduced in favor 
of this plan which is assumed to be that of the early Recollects ; but he 
startles us not a little, and somewhat unseats our gravity, when he tells 
us that it had been carried out with perfect success in the neighboring 
English and Dutch colonies; though, unfortunately, he does not tell 
us what New York or New England half-breed village resulted from 
the union. 

But to return to ancient politics. Religion was at that time upheld 
by popular opinion; a man in rank or office had to practice his religious 
duties; indeed, he never thought of not doing so. Now these duties 
in the catholic church are something very positive indeed, and many 
in Canada found themselves under ecclesiastical censures for trad- 
ing in liquor with the Indians, and saw no other alternative but that of 
renouncing a lucrative traffic, unless indeed they could find more 
lenient confessors. A party now called for the return of the Recollects 
as earnestly as they had opposed it, when they deemed them too expen- 
sive. Le Clercq states this ground of recall without a word of censure ; 
the Recollects returned, became the fashionable confessors, and were 
stationed at trading points. In this way they became involved in exist- 
ing disputes, and favored by and favoring Frontenac, found them- 
selves arrayed in a manner against the rest of the clergy. A general 
charge made about the time seems to have been, that the Jesuits had 
really made no discoveries, and no progress in converting the natives. 
With this as a principle, it would not do to allow the discovery of the 
Mississippi to be ascribed wholly or in part to one of the missionaries 
of that society; hence a work dedicated to Frontenac must naturally 
be a eulogy of his ideas and his friends, and a well-directed attack 



NOTICE ON FATHER LE CLERCQ. 



8 5 



on his enemies. It must be, and be expected to be, a party affair. 
When then we attack this work, it will be simply as to these matters; 
in an historical point of view, as faithful to the documents on which 
it professes to be founded, it has, I believe, never been called in ques- 
tion. It is a well-written history of the Recollect missions and La 
Salle's voyages, the rest is satire. 

The work itself consists of three parts : the first in substance an 
abridgement of Sagard, for the first period of French rule in Canada, 
down to the capture of Quebec by 1629, contains some new facts de- 
rived from manuscripts, and especially from those of the great le Caron, 
the founder of the Huron missions. The English carried off both the 
Recollects and the Jesuits whom they had invited to aid them ; but as 
the restoration of Canada was expected, both prepared for a speedy 
return. For some reason, however, the French government determined 
to send out another missionary body, and offered Canada to the 
Capuchins, like the Recollects, a branch of the great Franciscan order. 
The Capuchins, however, declined it, and recommended the Jesuits, 
who were accordingly sent, and the Recollects excluded. This was 
their first grief, and the volume before us details their unavailing efforts 
to return, and the suspicions entertained of opposition, or at least 
of lukewarmness, on the part of the Jesuits. They are, indeed, ex- 
culpated, but the charge is constantly renewed. With this on his heart, 
le Clercq proceeds to the second part, that of the Jesuit missions; and 
here he doubts the authenticity of all their Relations, and treats the 
missions they describe as chimerical. In this pretended account of the 
progress of Christianity during the period in question, there is no his- 
torical order preserved, no mention is made of the Huron missions, 
their rise and fall with the nation, and the death of the various mis- 
sionaries whose last moments are a sufficient proof of their sincerity in 
the accounts which they had given. Of the Algonquin and Montagnais 
missions, and their almost entire destruction by sickness and war, no 
notice is taken ; and what is said of the Iroquois is so garbled, that it 
were better unsaid. 

No missionary ever could have written this part; or, if he did, he 
must be content to rank below Hennepin. One instance will show the 
spirit of this portion. Speaking of the mission in New York, in i655-'58, 
he mentions the fact that Menard, at Cayuga, baptized four hundred; 
and adds, " Christianity must have advanced each year by still more 
happy and multiplied progress, and consequently all these people must 
be converted." Then, as he finds the mass of the Iroquois in 1690, as 
we find them in 1850, pagans, he concludes that the accounts of the 
missions are false. Now, in the first place, the period of missionary 
effort in New York embraces only the periods from 1655 to 1658, and 
from 1667 to 1685 ; in all, not more than twenty years, with a few 
visits at intervals before and after these dates; in 1690, there was no 
missionary in New York save Father Milet, who had just been dragged 



86 



NOTICE ON FATHER LE CLERCQ. 



to Oneida as a prisoner taken at Fort Frontenac. And as to baptisms, 
no fact is more clearly stated in early writers, the Relations, and all 
others, than this, that the baptisms were chiefly those of dying children 
and adults. Among the Iroquois there were, indeed, children of 
Christian Hurons, who could be baptized in health, but only there. 
Hence the baptisms gave a very slight increase to the number of living 
neophytes, and in time of epidemic, a very great number might be bap- 
tized, and yet the church lose in point of numbers. To begin then by 
assuming that 400 baptisms gave as many living members, and that ten 
times as many gave 4,000 is a puerility in one who is not much ac- 
quainted with the matter but a gross deceit in one who is. 

The second part then is not to be considered as historical ; it notices, 
indeed, the coming of the Ursuline and Hospital nuns, of the Sulpitians 
and the bishop; but even for these we must go elsewhere for a clear 
account. 

The third part stands on a different footing; it is mainly historical, 
and though marked by the prevailing prejudice, and as we shall show 
by gross injustice to Marquette and Joliet, is, undoubtedly, the best 
account of La Salle's voyages, and, for some parts, the only one we 
have. It is, too, an account of the rise and progress of the second 
Recollect missions, in a very brief form, which, with the mass of manu- 
scripts of the time, gives rich materials for Canadian history. All that 
relates to La Salle is given in the present volume, for the first time, 
we believe, in English. The remaining portion of Le Clercq is, as the 
title states, an account of 'the defeat of the English at Quebec, in 1690, 
by Frontenac, who had returned the previous year. 

Compelled by a love of truth to be somewhat severe on both Le 
Clercq and Hennepin, we would by no means seem to reflect generally 
on the Recollects of Canada. The latter committed his forgeries when 
cast off by his province, the former was not, I believe, the author of 
the objectionable parts in the work that bears his name; that two hands 
were employed in it, will I think, appear to any one who will read it 
over attentively several times. That all the Recollects should have been 
at the time under some prejudice is natural, owing to their position, 
and allowance is made for that, as we must daily make for those who 
can not judge of an individual without some attack on the church to 
which he belongs. Fortunately for all, the Recollects were soon relieved 
from their false position by the settlement of the disputes, and without 
attempting new Indian missions, labored for the good of the colony 
with a zeal beyond all praise. Chosen almost always as chaplains to the 
troops and forts, they were to be found at every French post, and thus 
became the earliest pastors of some of our western towns. Like the 
Jesuits, they were a second time excluded from Canada by the English 
on their conquest in the last century, and the last survivor has long 
since descended to the grave. A few names, and a church that bears 
their name, are almost all that recall to the traveler the labors and 
merits of the children of St. Francis. 



NARRATIVE 



OF THE FIRST ATTEMPT BY 

M. CAVELIER BE LA SALLE 

TO 

EXPLORE THE MISSISSIPPI. 

DRAWN UP FROM THE MANUSCRIPTS OF FATHER ZENOBIUS MEMBRE, A 
RECOLLECT BY FATHER CHRETIEN LECLERCQ. 

THE Sieur Robert Cavelier de la Salle, a native of Rouen, 
of one of the most distinguished families there, a man 
of vast intellect, brought up for literary pursuits,* capable 
and learned in every branch, especially in mathematics, 
naturally enterprising, prudent, and moral, had been for 
some years in Canada, and had already, under the adminis- 

* La Salle, in early life, resolved to consecrate himself to God in a 
religious order, and entered the Society of Jesus. After passing ten 
years, however, teaching and studying in their colleges, he left them — 
for what reason is not now known — and came to Canada to build up 
his fortunes, for he had lost his inheritance by the unjust provisions 
of the French law. His previous seclusion from the world had, per- 
haps, but too well fitted him for conceiving vast projects, but totally 
disqualified him for their successful conduct; the minute details, the 
cautious choice of men, the constant superintendence required in a 
large establishment, were foreign to his character, and we shall, in the 
result, see in this the cause of all his misfortunes. Like many others, 
he thought of finding a way to China, and began some enterprise which 
resulted only in giving the name of Lachine to his trading-post near 
Montreal. The fur trade was the great means of wealth, and he next 
conceived the plan of a large trading monoply on Lake Ontario, to be 
centered at Fort Frontenac ; from that moment, however, he raised 
against him all the individual traders in the Indian country, and he 
was soon aware that this was no speedy road to wealth. His ideas 

12 



88 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE. 



tration of De Courcelles and Talon, shown his great abilities 
for discoveries. M. de Frontenac selected him to command 
Fort Frontenac, where he was nearly a year, till coming to 
France in 1675, he obtained of the court the government 
and property of the lake and its dependencies, on condition 
of building there a regular stone fort, clearing the ground, 
and making French and Indian villages, and of supporting 
there, at his own expense, a sufficient garrison, and Recollect 
missionaries. 

Monsieur de la Salle returned to Canada and fulfilled 
these conditions completely; a fort with four bastions was 

now took a new turn, Joliet had returned to Canada, after exploring 
the Mississippi with Marquette, far enough to verify the supposition 
that it emptied into the gulf of Mexico. His accounts of the buffalo 
country, induced La Salle to believe that a very lucrative trade in their 
skins and wool might be opened directly between the buffalo plains 
and France by the Mississippi and gulf, without carrying them through 
Canada. To secure this was now his object. Joliet, who seems not to 
have been favored, was rewarded with a grant, not on the river he had 
explored, but at the other extreme of the French colony, the island of 
Anticosti, and La Salle, who had secured Frontenac's favor, obtained 
a royal patent, such as he desired. It was, however, provided, "that 
he carry on no trade whatever with the Indians called Ottawas, and 
others who bring their beaver-skins and other peltries to Montreal," 
while to him and his company, the privilege of the trade in buffalo 
skins was granted. — (Vol. i., p. 35.) The private traders who had 
already visited the Illinois country, considered his including it in his 
grant as unjustifiable, and both in the west and at Quebec opposed 
him in every way, monopolies having always been objects of dislike. 
A variety of circumstances defeated his first plan in the Illinois country, 
in 1680, and no new discovery having been made by himself or Henne- 
pin, he abandoned his first plan of descending the Mississippi in a 
vessel, and sailing thence to the isles, and resolved to examine the 
mouth in boats, and acquire such a knowledge of its position as would 
enable him to reach it direct from France by sea. He accordingly 
sailed down in 1682, and following the course of Marquette and Joliet, 
reached their furthest station on the 3d of March, then passing on, 
explored the river to the gulf, which he reached on the 9th of April, 
thus crowning the work of the former explorers, and with Hennepin's 
voyage, tracing its whole course from the falls of St. Anthony to the 
sea. In pursuance of his plan he returned to France, and attempted to 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 89 

built at the entrance of the lake on the northern side at the 
end of a basin, where a considerable fleet of large vessels 
might be sheltered from the winds. This fort enclosed that 
built by Monsieur de Frontenac. He also gave us a piece 
of ground fifteen arpents in front, by twenty deep the dona- 
tion being accepted by Monsieur de Frontenac, syndic of our 
mission. 

It would be difficult to detail the obstacles he had to en- 
counter, raised against him daily in the execution of his 
plans, so that he found less opposition in the savage tribes 
whom he was always able to bring into his plans. Monsieur 
de Frontenac went up there every year, and care was taken 
to assemble there the chiefs and leading men of the Iroquois 
nations great and small ; maintaining by this means alliance 
and commerce with them, and disposing them to embrace 
Christianity, which was the principal object of the new 
establishment.* 

'My design being to treat of the publication of the faith to 
that prodigious quantity of nations who are comprised in the 

reach it by sea, but missed the mouth, and landing in Texas, perished in 
an attempt to reach the Illinois country by land. As a great but unsuc- 
cessful merchant, vast and enterprising in his plans, though unfitted 
by early associations from achieving them, he presents one of the most 
striking examples of calm and persevering courage amid difficulties 
and disasters. He rose above every adversity, unshaken and undis- 
couraged, ever ready to make the worse the better fortune. His life 
by Sparks, is one of the most valuable contributions to the early history 
of America. 

* Le Clercq, p. 119. The subsequent pages, down to page 131, relate 
to the religious affairs of the colony. The only reference to La Salle, 
is this on p. 127 : " Our reverend fathers having obtained of the king 
letters-patent for our establishments at Quebec, Isle Percee, and Fort 
Frontenac, they were registered at the sovereign council of Quebec, 
and Monsieur de la Salle built, at his own expense, a house on the 
land he had given us near the fort, in which a chapel was made. A fine 
church was afterward added, adorned with paintings and necessary 
vestments — also, a regular house and appendages, completed by the 
exertions of Father Joseph Denis." 



90 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE. 

dominions of the king, as his majesty has discovered them, 
we shall continue our subject by those which were made 
during the rest of the present epoch in all parts of New 
France. 

While the reverend father Jesuits among the southern Iro- 
quois on the upper part of the river had the honor of bear- 
ing the gospel to the nations bordering on those tribes; the 
peace between the two crowns of France and England giving 
them free access everywhere, without being traversed by the 
English, they announced the faith to the Etchemins, and 
other Indian nations that came to trade at Loup river, where 
the ordinary post of the mission was; our missions of St. 
John's River, Beaubassin, Mizamichis, Nipisiguit, Risti- 
gouche, and Isle Percee, were similarly supported — we con- 
tinued to labor for the conversion of the Indians of those 
vast countries comprised under the name of Acadia, Cape 
Breton and the great bay (gulf of St. Lawrence). 

In the time of M. de Courcelles and Talon, the discoveries 
were pushed toward the north bay (Hudson's), of which 
something was known from two or three previous attempts. 
The sieur de St. Simon was chosen for the expedition, with 
the reverend father Albanes (Albanel), a Jesuit. By the 
maps of the country it is easy to see what difficulties had to 
be surmounted, how much toil and hardship undergone, how 
many falls and rapids to be passed, and portages made, to 
reach by land these unknown parts and tribes, as far as Hud- 
son's bay or strait. M. de Frontenac was in Canada on the 
return of the party in 1672. This discovery thenceforward 
enabled them to push the mission much further to the north, 
and draw some elect from those distant nations to receive 
the first rudiments of Christianity, until in 1686, the vic- 
torious arms of the king, under the guidance of M. de Troye, 
D'Hiberville, Ste. Helaine, and a number of brave Canadi- 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 91 

ans, by order of the marquis d'Enonville, then governor- 
general of the country, conquered those northern parts 
where, as the French arms are still gloriously maintained, 
the zeal of the Jesuit fathers is employed in publishing the 
gospel. 

The unwearied charity of those illustrious missionaries 
advanced their labors with much more success during the 
present epoch, among the Ottawa nations, seconded by the 
great zeal of Frontenac's protection, and the ascendant which 
the wisdom of the governor had acquired over the savages. 
A magnificent church, furnished with the richest vestments, 
was built at the mission of St.. Mary's of the sault; that of 
the bay of the Fetid (Green bay), and Michilimakinak 
island, were more and more increased by the gathering of 
Indian tribes. The missions around Lake Conde (Superior) 
further north, were also increased. This lake alone is one 
hundred and fifty miles long, sixty wide, and about five hun- 
dred in circuit, inhabited by different nations, whence we 
may form an idea of the labors of the missionaries in five 
or six establishments. Finally, in the last years of M. de 
Frontenac's first administration, Sieur du Luth, a man of 
talent and experience opened a way to the missionaries and 
the gospel in many different nations turning toward the north 
of that lake, where he even built a fort. He advanced as far 
as the lake of the Issati, called Lake Buade, from the family 
name of GM. de Frontenac, planting the arms of his majesty 
in several nations on the right and left, where the mission- 
aries still make every effort to introduce Christianity, the 
only fruit of which indeed consists in the baptism of some 
dying children, and in rendering adults inexcusable at God's 
judgment by the gospel preached to them.* 

* The promise of a general account of discoveries made, and his 
praise of the Jesuit missionaries in the preceding pages, must excite 



9 2 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE. 



I shall hereafter limit myself to publish the great dis- 
coveries made by order of the king, under the command of 
M. de Frontenac and the direction of M. de la Salle, as being 
those which promised the greatest fruits for the establish- 
ment of the faith, if in course of time they are resumed and 
supported as they deserve. 

The sieur de la Salle having completed the construction 
of Fort Frontenac, and greatly advanced the establishment 
of French and Indian settlements, was induced, by the report 
of many tribes, to believe that great progress could be made 
by pushing on the discoveries by the lakes into the river Mis- 
sisipi, which he then supposed to empty into the Red sea 
(gulf of California).* He made a voyage to France in 1677, 

contempt when we find them a mask for falsehood and concealment. 
Nothing here would lead the reader to suppose that Father Allouez 
and other missionaries had explored the country around Lake Superior 
for seven years prior to the coming of Frontenac; that an accurate 
map had been published by them, in 1672; that Father Marquette, 
after many disappointments, at last, with Joliet, descended the Missis- 
sippi far enough to be certain as to the sea into which it emptied. Yet 
the discoveries of Allouez and the map are in the Relations which he 
elsewhere ridicules ; the voyage of Joliet he must have heard of during 
his residence in Canada, and known as well as Hennepin who refers 
to it in his first work, even if we are to suppose him never to have read 
the work of his fellow-missionary, or Thevenot's edition of Father 
Marquette's journal. In his eagerness to ascribe no discovery to the 
Jesuits, he actually sends Du Luth to Lake Issati before any of the 
missionaries. Was he there before Hennepin? 

* This assertion seems perfectly gratuitous, and is not justified by 
the letters patent to La Salle. Joliet's return set the matter at rest, 
and left no doubt as to its emptying into the gulf. In his work, indeed, 
Marquette is never mentioned, and Joliet's voyage described, if not 
denied ; but in the first of the series of works on La Salle, Hennepin's 
Description de la Louisiane (Paris, 1684), of which the printing 
was completed January 5th, 1683, that is but a few days after Membre's 
arrival with the account of La Salle's voyage, the prior voyage of Joliet 
is admitted, and La Salle's object thus stated: "Toward the end of 
the year 1678 (1677), the sieur de la Salle came to France to report to 
M. Colbert the execution of his orders; he then represented to him 
that Fort Frontenac gave him great opportunities for making discov- 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 93 

and favored by letters from the count de Frontenac, obtained 
of the court necessary powers to undertake and carry out 
this great design at his own expense. 

Furnished with these powers, he arrived in Canada toward 
the close of September, 1678, with the sieur de Tonty, an 
Italian gentleman, full of spirit and resolution, who after- 
ward so courageously and faithfully seconded him in all his 
designs. He had also with him thirty men — pilots, sailors, 
carpenters, and other mechanics, with all things necessary 
for his expedition. Some Canadians having joined him, he 
sent all his party in advance to Fort Frontenac, where 
Father Gabriel de la Ribourde, and Father Luke Buisset 
were already, and where Fathers Louis Hennepin, Zenobius 
Membre, and Melithon Watteau, now repaired. They were 
all three missionaries of our province of St. Anthony of 
Padua, in Artois, as well as Father Luke Buisset, his 
majesty having honored the Recollects with the care of the 
spiritual direction of the expedition by express orders ad- 
dressed to Father Valentine le Roux, commissary provincial, 
and superior of the mission. The sieur de la Salle soon 
followed them the Almighty preserving him from many 
perils in that long' voyage from Quebec, over falls and rapids 
to Fort Frontenac where he arrived at last, much emaciated. 
Deriving new strength from his great courage, he issued all 

eries with our Recollects ; that his principal design in building the 
fort had been to continue these discoveries in rich, fertile, and tem- 
perate countries, where commerce in the skins and wool of the wild 
cattle, called by the Spaniards Cibola, might establish a great trade, 
and support powerful colonies ; that, however, as it would be difficult to 
bring these buffalo-hides in canoes, he prayed M. Colbert to grant him 
a commission to go and discover the mouth of the great river Mechasipi, 
on which vessels might be built to come to France; and that, consider- 
ing the great expense he had undergone in building and supporting Fort 
Frontenac, he would be pleased to grant him an exclusive privilege of 
trading in buffalo-skins, of which he brought one as a sample, and his 
request was granted." — P. 14. 



94 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE. 

his orders and sent off his troop in a brigantine for Niagara 
with Father Louis, on the 18th of November. 

The navigation, in which they had to encounter many 
dangers and even disasters crossing the great lake in so ad- 
vanced a season, prevented their reaching Niagara river be- 
fore the 5th of December. On the sixth, they entered the 
river, and the following days, by canoe and land, advanced 
to the spot where the sieur de la Salle intended to raise a 
fort, and build a bark above Niagara falls, whence the St. 
Lawrence (Le Fleuve) communicates with Lake Conty 
(Erie), and Lake Frontenac (Ontario), by the said falls and 
river, which is, as it were, the strait of communication. 

A glance at the map will show that this project with that 
of Fort Frontenac, and the fort he was about to build at 
Niagara, might excite some jealousy among the Iroquois 
who dwell in the neighborhood of the great lake. The sieur 
de la Salle, with his usual address, met the principal chiefs 
of those tribes in conference, and gained them so completely 
that they not only agreed to it, but even offered to con- 
tribute with all their means to the execution of his design. 
This great concert lasted some time. The sieur de la Salle 
also sent many canoes to trade north and south of the lake 
among these tribes. 

Meanwhile, as certain persons traversed with all their 
might the project of the sieur de la Salle, they insinuated 
feelings of distrust in the Seneca Iroquois as the fort build- 
ing at Niagara began to advance, and they succeeded so 
well that the fort became an object of suspicion, and the 
works had to be suspended for a time, and he had to be sat- 
isfied with a house surrounded by palisades. The sieur de 
la Salle did not fail to give prompt orders; he made fre- 
quent voyages from Fort Frontenac to Niagara, during the 
winter on the ice, in the spring with vessels loaded with 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 95 

provisions. In all the opposition raised by those envious of 
him, fortune seemed to side with them against him; the 
pilot who directed one of his well-loaded barks, lost it on 
Lake Frontenac. When the snow began to melt, he sent 
fifteen of his men to trade on the lake in canoes, as far as 
the Ilinois to prepare him the way, till his barque building 
at Niagara was completed. It was perfectly ready in the 
month of August, 1679. 

The father commissary had started some time before from 
Quebec for the fort, to give the orders incumbent on his 
office, and put in force those expedited in the month of July, 
by which Father Gabriel was named superior of the new 
expedition, to be accompanied by Father Louis Hennepin, 
Zenobius Membre, and Melithon Watteaux, the latter to re- 
main at Niagara, and make it his mission, while Father Luke 
should remain at the fort. 

The three former accordingly embarked on the 7th of Au- 
gust, with Monsieur de la Salle and his whole party in the 
vessel, which had been named the Griffin in honor of the 
arms of Monsieur de Frontenac. Father Melithon remained 
at the house at Niagara, with some laborers and clerks. The 
same day they sailed for Lake Conty, after passing contrary 
to all expectations the currents of the strait. This was due 
to the resolution and address of the sieur de la Salle, his men 
having before his arrival used every means to no purpose. 
It appeared a kind of marvel, considering the rapidity of the 
current in the strait, which neither man nor animal, nor any 
ordinary vessel can resist, much less ascend. 

The map will show that from this place you sail up Lake 
Conty (Erie), to Lake Orleans (Huron), which terminates 
in Lake Dauphin (Michigan) ; these lakes being each a hun- 
dred, or a hundred and twenty leagues long, by forty or fifty 
•wide, communicating with one another by easy channels and 



g6 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE. 

straits, which offer vessels a convenient and beautiful navi- 
gation. All these lakes are full of fish; the country is most 
finely situated, the soil temperate, being north and south, 
bordered by vast prairies, which terminate in hills covered 
with vines, fruit-trees, groves, and tall woods, all scattered 
here and there, so that one would think that the ancient Ro- 
mans, princes and nobles would have made them as many 
villas. The soil is everywhere equally fertile. 

The sieur de la Salle having entered Lake Conty on the 
7th, crossed it in three days, and on the 10th reached the 
strait (Detroit), by which he entered Lake Orleans. The 
voyage was interrupted by a storm as violent as could be 
met in the open sea; our people lost all hope of escape; but 
a vow which they made to St. Anthony, of Padua, the patron 
of mariners, delivered them by a kind of miracle, so that, 
after long making head against the wind, the vessel on the 
27th reached Missilimakinak, which is north of the strait, 
by which we go from Lake Orleans to Lake Dauphin. 

No vessels had yet been seen sailing on the lakes; yet an 
enterprise which should have been sustained by all well- 
meaning persons, for the glory of God, and the service of 
the king, had produced precisely the opposite feelings and 
effects, which had been already communicated to the Hurons, 
the Outaouats of the island and the neighboring nations, to 
make them ill affected. The sieur de la Salle even found 
here the fifteen men, whom he had sent in the spring, prej- 
udiced against him and seduced from his service; a part of 
his goods wasted, far from having proceeded to the Ilinois 
to trade according to their orders; the sieur de Tonty, who 
was at their head, having in vain made every effort to in- 
spire them with fidelity.* 

* La Salle's sending them was a violation of his patent. — See Historical 
Collections of Louisiana, vol. i., p. 35- 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. gj 

At last he weighed anchor on the 2d of September, and 
arrived pretty safely at the Bay of the Fetid (Green bay), 
at the entrance of Lake Dauphin, forty leagues from Missili- 
makinak. W ould to God that the sieur de la Salle had con- 
tinued his route in the vessel. His wisdom could not foresee 
the misfortunes which awaited him; he deemed proper to 
send it back by the same route to Niagara, with the furs al- 
ready bought, in order to pay his creditors. He even left in 
it a part of his goods and implements, which were not easy 
to transport. The captain had orders to return with the 
vessel as soon as possible, and join us in the Ilinois. 

Meanwhile, on the 18th of September, the sieur de la Salle 
with our fathers and seventeen men, continued their route in 
canoes by Lake Dauphin, from the Pouteotatamis to the 
mouth of the river of the Miamis (St. Joseph's), where they 
arrived on the first of November. This place had been ap- 
pointed a rendezvous for twenty Frenchmen, who came by 
the opposite shore, and also for the sieur de Tonty, who had 
been sent by the sieur de la Salle to Missilimakinak on an- 
other expedition. 

The sieur de la Salle built a fort there to protect his men 
and property against any attack of the Indians ; our religious 
soon had a bark cabin erected to serve as a chapel, where 
they exercised their ministry for French and Indians until 
the third of December, when leaving four men in the fort, 
they went in search of the portage which would bring them 
to the Seignelay (Ilinois), which descends to the Missisipi. 
They embarked on this river to the number of thirty or forty, 
by which after a hundred, or a hundred and twenty leagues 
sail, they arrived toward the close of December, at the largest 
Ilinois village, composed of about four or five hundred cabins, 
each of five or six families. 

It is the custom of these tribes at harvest-time to put 



98 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE. 

their Indian corn in caches, in order to keep it for summer, 
when meat easily spoils, and to go and pass the winter in 
hunting wild cattle and beaver, carrying very little grain. 
That of our people had run short, so that passing by the 
Ilinois village, they were obliged, there being no one there, 
to take some Indian corn as much as they deemed necessary 
for their subsistence. 

They left it on the ist of January, 1680, and by the 4th, 
were thirty leagues lower down amid the Ilinois camp; they 
were encamped on both sides of the river, which is very nar- 
row there, but soon after forms a lake about seven leagues 
long, and about one wide, called Pimiteoui, meaning in their 
language that there are plenty of fat beasts there. The sieur 
de la Salle estimated it at 33 0 45'. It is remarkable, because 
the Ilinois river, which for several months in winter is frozen 
down to it, never is from this place to the mouth, although 
navigation is at times interrupted by accumulations of float- 
ing ice from above. 

Our people had been assured that the Ilinois had been 
excited and prejudiced against them. Finding himself then 
in the midst of their camp, which lay on both sides of the 
river, at a narrow pass, where the current was hurrying on 
the canoes faster than they liked, the sieur de la Salle 
promptly put his men under arms, and ranged his canoes 
abreast so as to occupy the whole breadth of the river, the 
canoes nearest the two banks, in which were the sieur de 
Tonty, and the sieur de la Salle, were not more than half a 
pistol-shot from the shore. The Ilinois, who had not yet 
discovered the little flotilla ranged in battle order, were 
alarmed; some ran to arms, others fled in incredible con- 
fusion. The sieur de la Salle had a calumet of peace, but 
would not show it, not liking to appear weak before them. 
As they were soon so near that they could understand each 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 99 

other, they asked our Frenchmen, who they were. They 
replied that they were French, still keeping their arms ready, 
and letting the current bear them down in order, because 
there was no landing place till below the camp. 

The Indians alarmed and intimidated by this bold conduct 
(although they were several thousand against a handful), 
immediately presented three calumets; our people at the same 
time presented theirs, and their terror changing to joy, they 
conducted our party to their cabins, showed us a thousand 
civilities, and sent to call back those who had fled. They 
were told, that we came only to give them a knowledge of 
the true God, to defend them against their enemies, to bring 
them arms and other conveniences of life. Besides presents 
made them, they were paid for the Indian corn taken at their 
village; a close alliance was made with them, the rest of the 
day being spent in feasts and mutual greetings. 

All the sieur de la Salle's intrepidity and skill were needed 
to keep the alliance intact, as Monsoela, one of the chiefs of 
the nation of Maskoutens came that very evening to traverse 
it. It was known that he was sent by others than those 
of his nation; he had even with him some Miamis, and young 
men bearing kettles, knives, axes, and other goods. He had 
been chosen for this embassy rather than a Miami chief, to 
give more plausibility to what he should say, the Ilinois not 
having been at war with the Maskoutens, as they had with 
the Miamis. He cabaled even the whole night, speaking of 
the sieur de la Salle as an intriguer, a friend of the Iroquois, 
coming to the Ilinois only to open the way to their enemies, 
who were coming on all sides with the French to destroy 
them ; he made them presents of all that he had brought, and 
even told them that he came on behalf of several Frenchmen 
whom he named. 

This council was held at night, the time chosen by the In- 

ILofC. 



IOO NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE. 

dians to transact secret business. This embassador retired 
the same night, so that the next day the Ilinois chiefs were 
found completely changed cold and distrustful, appearing 
even to plot against our Frenchmen, who were shaken by the 
change, but the sieur de la Salle, who had attached one of 
the chiefs to him particularly by some present, learned from 
him the subject of this change. His address soon dispelled 
all these suspicions, but did not prevent six of his men, al- 
ready tampered with and prejudiced at Michilimakinak, from 
deserting that very day. 

The sieur de la Salle not only reassured that nation, but 
found means in the sequel, to disabuse the Maskoutens and 
Miamis, and to form an alliance between them and the Ilinois 
which lasted as long as the sieur de la Salle was in the 
country. 

With this assurance the little army, on the 14th of January, 
1680, the floating ice from above having ceased, repaired to 
a little eminence, a site quite near the Ilinois camp where 
the Sieur de la Salle immediately set to work to build a fort, 
which he called Crevecceur, on account of the many disap- 
pointments he had experienced, but which never shook his 
firm resolve. The fort was well advanced, and the little ves- 
sel already up to the string-piece by the first of March, when 
he resolved to proceed to Fort Frontenac. There were four 
or five hundred leagues to go by land, but not finding his 
brigantine, the Griffin, return, nor those he had sent on to 
meet her, and foreseeing the disastrous consequences of the 
probable loss of his vessel, his courage rose above the diffi- 
culties of so long and painful a journey. 

As he had chosen Father Louis, and as the latter had 
offered to continue the discovery toward the north, by 
ascending the Missisipi, the sieur de la Salle reserving to 
himself its continuation in canoe by descending till he found 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 10 1 

the sea, Father Louis set out in canoe from Fort Crevecoeur 
on the 29th of February, 1680, with two men well armed 
and equipped, who had besides twelve hundred livres in 
goods, which make a good passport. The enterprise was 
great and hardy, although it did not equal the great zeal of 
the intrepid missionary who undertook and continued it 
with all the firmness, constancy, and edification, which can 
be desired, amid inconceivable toils. 

Although the discovery had already been pushed four or 
five hundred leagues into Louisiana,* from Fort Frontenac 
to Fort Crevecoeur; this great march can be considered only 
as a prelude and preparation for enterprises still more vast, 
and an entrance to be made in countries still more advan- 
tageous. 

I have hitherto given only a short abridgment of the Re- 
lations which Father Zenobius Membre gives of the com- 
mencement of this enterprise. Father Louis, whom we see 
starting for the upper Missisipi has published a description 
of the countries which he visited and into which he car- 
ried the gospel. I therefore refer my reader to it without 
repeating it here.f We have then only to describe what is 
most essential and important in this discovery conducted by 
the personal labors of the sieur de la Salle, in the subse- 
quent years. 

* In fact no discovery had been made ; the Ilinois country was visited 
by traders before Marquette's second voyage to it, and was perfectly 
known ; Allouez, too, was there shortly before this, as La Salle himself 
states. 

t We prefer to interrupt Le Clercq's narrative here, and insert the 
account published by Father Louis Hennepin, in 1684. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE 



OF 

THE WORKS OF FATHER LOUIS HENNEPIN, 

A RECOLLECT OF THE PROVINCE OF ST. ANTHONY, IN ARTOIS. 

We have already in the notice on Le Clercq alluded to the uncertainty 
which hangs around many of the works connected with the history of 
La Salle. In them, however, it was a question as to authorship, altera- 
tions made by publishers, or the influence of party spirit in the original 
writers ; against Hennepin, however, there is a still heavier charge. A 
good man may be so blinded by party zeal as to be unjust to others, and 
be guilty of acts which he would personally shrink from doing, and 
in this case we must, to attain the truth, realize fully the position of 
the antagonistic parties at the time. Such is peculiarly the case with 
Le Clercq, as we have shown, and in judging the work, we have en- 
deavored to go back to his own period. 

The charge against Hennepin is, that he was vain, conceited, ex- 
aggerating, and even mendacious. To weigh so serious an accusation, 
we shall examine his several volumes, which, however, as will be seen, 
resolve themselves into two, published at an interval of fourteen years. 
It is the more necessary to enter into a full discussion of his merits 
as few works relative to America have been more widely spread than 
that of Hennepin. Published originally in French, it appeared subse- 
quently in Dutch, English, Italian, and Spanish, and if I am not mis- 
taken in German and in a large class of writers is quoted with the com- 
mendation. It was, however, soon attacked. The editor of Joutel, in 
1713, calls it in question; but he was too ignorant of Canadian history 
to give his charge any weight. Severer strictures were passed upon 
it by Harris, and by Kalm, the celebrated Swedish traveller. Harris 
says, in vol. ii., p. 350, "As to the accounts of La Hontan, and Father 
Hennepin, they have been formerly very much admired, yet we are 
now well satisfied that they are rather romances than relations, and 
that their authors had their particular schemes so much in view, that 
they have made no scruple of abusing the confidence of mankind." In 
this country, within the last few years a more thorough examination 
of authorities has consigned Hennepin,* La Hontan, and Lebeau, to that 

* N. A. Review for January, 1845, Spark's Life of La Salle. 



THE WORKS OF FATHER HENNEPIN. IO3 

amiable class who seem to tell truth by accident and fiction by inclina- 
tion. The works of Hennepin are, I. Description de la Louisiane, nou- 
vellement decouverte au sudoiiest de la nouvelle France, par ordre du 
roy. Avec carte du pays, les moeurs et la maniere devivre des sauvages, 
dediee a sa Majeste, par le R. P. Louis Hennepin, Missionare Recollect 
et Notaire Apostolique, pp. 312, and 107 Paris. Auroy, 1684. 

Charlevoix takes exception to the title of this work on the ground that 
he misapplies the name Louisiana, but in fact Illinois, from La Salle's 
time, was included under that name. The title is, however, false in the 
words " newly discovered to the southwest of Canada," as no new dis- 
covery had been made in that direction, and the whole volume can 
show nothing in the way of new exploration, beyond what had already 
been published in Europe, except of so much of the Mississippi as lies 
between the Wisconsin river and the falls of St. Anthony, which he 
was the first European to travel. But let us enter on the volume itself, 
which, apart from any intrinsic faults, possesses considerable value, as 
being the first published, and by far the fullest account of La Salle's 
first expedition. Such it pretends to be, and accordingly opens with an 
account of that adventurer's project of reaching China, his attempt with 
some Sulpitians, in 1669, and his establishment at Fort Frontenac. Hen- 
nepin introduces himself to us, for the first time, on page twelve, as 
having established a mission at that fort with Father Luke Buisset; 
then mentions Joliet's voyage down the Mississippi as far as the Illinois 
(Indians), which he represents as the work of La Salle's enemies. 
Then follow the latter's voyage to France, in 1677, his return the next 
year with an order for the author to acompany him in his discoveries, 
and his own voyage to Fort Frontenac, which he details as though it 
were his first trip to that place. At Fort Frontenac La Salle's expedi- 
tion begins, and our author relates all that happened with great detail, 
and a vast profusion of nautical expressions, down to the building of 
Fort Crevecceur, and his own departure from it, February 29th, 1680. 
His journal from this point being given in the present volume, we need 
not analyze it further than to say, that being sent to explore the Illinois 
to its mouth, in the Mississippi (p. 184), he reached that point on the 
8th of March (192), and after being detained there by floating ice till 
the 12th, continued his route, traversing and sounding the river. Then 
follows, not a journal of his voyage, but a geographical description of 
the upper Mississippi, from the Illinois river to Mille lake and the 
Sioux country. After this description, he resumes his journal and tells 
us (p. 206), that he was taken by the Indians on the eleventh of April, 
after having sailed two hundred leagues (p. 218), from the Illinois 
(Indians). He was taken by them to their villages, relieved by de 
Luth in July, and returned to Mackinaw by way of the Wisconsin and 
Green bay. Thence, in the spring, he proceeded to the Seneca country, 
Fort Frontenac and Montreal. His work contains, besides the journal 
given, only some account of the party he left at Fort Crevecceur from 

13 



104 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. 



letters he saw at Quebec, and of La Salle's descent to the gulf from 
others received by him in France. This is followed by an account of 
the manners of the savages (p. 107). 

Taking this volume by itself, the reader is struck by the unclerical 
character of the writer, his intense vanity and fondness for exaggera- 
tion. The manner in which he rises in importance, is truly amusing; 
not only does he, to all appearance, make himself the superior of the 
little band of missionaries in La Salle's expedition, but even a kind of 
joint commander with La Salle himself. Take as a specimen the fol- 
lowing passage, which we select the more readily, as it bears on his 
voyage to the Mississippi. Fort Crevecceur was almost built, the Dau- 
phin had send no tidings of her voyage, the men were discontented and 
mutinous, all was dark and gloomy around the exploring party in 
Illinois. " We must remark," says Hennepin, " that the winter in the 
Illinois country is not longer than that in Provence; but, in 1679, the 
snow lasted more than twenty days, to the great astonishment of the 
Indians who had never seen so severe a winter, so that the sieur de la 
Salle and I beheld ourselves exposed to new hardships that will appear 
incredible to those who have no experience of great voyages and new 
discoveries. Fort Crevecceur was almost completed, the wood was all 
prepared to finish the bark, but we had not cordage, nor sails, nor iron 
enough ; we received no tidings of the bark we had left on Lake Dau- 
phin, nor of those sent to find what had become of her ; meanwhile the 
sieur de la Salle saw that summer was coming on, and that, if he waited 
some months in vain, our enterprise would be retarded one year, and 
perhaps two or three, because being so far from Canada, he could not 
regulate affairs, nor have the necessary articles forwarded. 

In this extremity we both took a resolution as extraordinary as it 
was difficult to execute, I to go with two men in unknown countries 
where we are every moment in great danger of death, and he on foot 
to Fort Frontenac more than five hundred leagues distant. We were 
then at the close of winter, which had been, as we have said, as severe 
in America as in France ; the ground was still covered with snow, 
which was neither melted nor able to bear a man in snowshoes. He 
had to carry the usual equipment in such cases, that is, a blanket, pot, 
axe, gun, powder, and lead, with dressed skins to make Indian shoes, 
which last only a day, French shoes being of no use in the western 
countries. Besides, he had to resolve to pierce through thickets, march 
through marshes and melting snow, sometimes waist high, for whole 
days, at times with nothing to eat, because he and his three companions 
could not carry provisions, being compelled to rely for subsistence on 
what they killed with their guns, and to expect to drink only the water 
they found on the way. Finally he was exposed every day, and especially 
every night, to be surprised by four or five nations at war with each 
other, with this difference that the nations through which he had to 
pass all know the French, while those where I was going had never seen 



THE WORKS OF FATHER HENNEPIN. IO5 

Europeans. Yet all these difficulties did not astound him any more than 
myself; our only difficulty was to find some of our men stout enough 
to accompany us and prevent the rest already much shaken from desert- 
ing on our departure." This is a remarkable passage, and has struck 
almost every writer on La Salle as their accounts often seem inspired 
by this graphic sketch of Hennepin. It is more than we said at first: 
Hennepin is here even greater than La Salle in the resolution he took 
at this trying crisis. After this we expect to see the two commanders 
depart on their dangerous expeditions, we run over the succeeding pages, 
the highflown language cools down, and we come to some details of 
La Salle's appointment of Tonty to command, which, are followed by 
these matter-of-fact words, completely destroying the delusion created 
by the preceding passage. 

" He begged me to take the trouble to go and discover in advance the 
route he would have to take as far as the river Colbert on his return 
from Canada, but as I had an abscess in my mouth which had sup- 
purated constantly for a year and a half, / showed my repugnance, 
and told him that I needed to go back to Canada to have medical treat- 
ment. He replied, that if I refused this voyage, he would write to my 
superiors that I would be the cause of the failure of our new missions ; 
the reverend father Gabriel de la Robourde, who had been my novice 
master, begged me to go, telling me, that if I died of that infirmity, 
God would one day be glorified by my apostolic labors. ' True, my son,' 
said that venerable old man, whose head was whitened with more than 
forty years' austere penance, ' you will have many monsters to over- 
come, and precipices to pass, in this enterprise which requires the 
strength of the most robust; you do not know a word of the language 
of these tribes whom you are going to endeavor to gain to God, 
but take courage, you will gain as many victories as you have 
combats.' Considering that this father had at his age been ready 
to come to my aid in the second year of our new discoveries, with the 
view of announcing Christ to unknown tribes, and that this old man 
was the only male descendant and heir of his father's house, for he 
was a Burgundian of rank, I offered to make the voyage and endeavor 
to make the acquaintance of the tribes among whom I hoped soon to 
establish myself, and preach the faith. The sieur de la Salle showed me 
his satisfaction, gave me a calumet of peace, and a canoe with two 
men, one of whom was called the Picard du Gay, who is now at Paris, 
and the other, Michael Ako ; the latter he intrusted with some merchan- 
dise fit to make presents, and worth ten or twelve thousand livres ; and 
to myself he gave ten knives, twelve awls, a little roll of tobacco to 
give to the Indians, about two pounds of white and black beads, a 
little package of needles, declaring that he would have given me more, 
if he could. In fact, he is quite liberal to his friends. Having received 
the blessing of the reverend father Gabriel, and taken leave of th< 
sieur de la Salle, and embraced all the party who came down to see u 



io6 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. 



off, Father Gabriel concluding his adieu with the words, ' Viriliter age 
et confortetur cor tuum,' we set out from Fort Crevecceur on the 29th 
of February," &c. 

Can anything be more striking than the difference of these two ac- 
counts ; in one he seems a leader, in the other, a reluctant member of 
the expedition? 

But La Salle is not the only one sacrificed to his vanity. Delivered 
by de Luth from his Sioux captivity, he seems to lay that officer under 
great obligations to him, and disposes of him so summarily, that the 
name of de Luth, after being only three times mentioned, disappears 
from his pages, and he seems to be the commander of the united parties. 
He passes by one Jesuit mission at Greenbay without mentioning its 
existence, winters at another at Mackinaw, not only without uttering a 
word to induce us to suppose a missionary there, but actually using ex- 
pressions which give us the idea that he was the only missionary to be 
found in all those parts, to minister to the Christians and instruct the 
heathen. When he leaves Mackinaw, in April, 1681, our Recollect 
rises still higher in importance ; he is fired at the wrongs of an Ottawa 
chief, and apparently considering it beneath him to look for La Salle, 
or give him any account of the expedition on which he had been sent, 
proceeds to the Seneca country, convenes a council, compels that haughty 
tribe to make amends to the injured Ottawa, and returns to Fort Fron- 
tenac, after this somewhat curious proceeding in a good friar who never 
meddled in civil affairs, as some other people did. He crowns the 
whole by telling us at the close of the volume, that La Salle descended 
to the gulf, "as / had made peace with the nations of the north and 
northwest, five hundred leagues up the river Colbert, who made war on 
the Ilinois and southern tribes." 

This is enough to show to what extent even then he pushed his self- 
glorification. As to the object of his expedition, we are completely in 
the dark; we can not tell whether he was sent to explore the Illinois 
to its mouth, or to open intercourse with some tribe or tribes, where it 
was intended to begin a mission. At all events, he says nothing of 
having been sent up the Mississippi; but whatever was his mission, he 
seems to have so well avoided La Salle, that they never met again. 
Hennepin hastened back to France, and by the 3d of September, 1682, 
had the royal permission to print his work, which issued from the press 
on the 5th of January, 1683, though most copies have on the titlepage 
the date 1684. He was then for a time, it would seem, at Chateau Cam- 
brensis, till ordered by his superiors to return to America; this he re- 
fused, and was in consequence compelled to leave France. Falling in 
with Mr. Blaithwait, secretary of war to William III., he passed to the 
service of the English king, as a Spanish subject, by permission of his 
own sovereign and his clerical superiors, as he avers. He assumed a 
lay dress in a convent at Antwerp, and proceeding to Utrecht, pub- 
lished in 1697, a new work entitled — 



THE WORKS OF FATHER HENNEPIN. 



107 



II. " Nouvelle description d'un tres grand pays situe dans l'Amerique 
entre le nouveau Mexique et la mer glaciale," reprinted the next year 
as " Nouvelle Decouverte d'un pays plus grandque l'Europe," a trans- 
lation of which appeared in England, in 1699, entitled : " A new dis- 
covery of a vast country in America, extending above four thousand 
miles between New France and New Mexico." 

This work begins with his own personal history, and from it we de- 
rive the following data for a life of this worthy, should any one deem 
it worth while to attempt it. He was born at Ath, in Hainault, and 
feeling a strong inclination to retire from the world, entered the order 
of St. Francis. He was soon seized with a desire of rambling; and 
while studying Dutch at Ghent, was strongly tempted to go to the East 
Indies, but was appeased by a tour through the Franciscan convents 
of Italy and Germany, back to Hainault, where, for a whole year, he 
was compelled to discharge the ministry. This year of permanent resi- 
dence in one spot seems to have been an epoch in his erratic life. He 
next roamed to Artois, thence set out to beg at Calais, returned by 
Dunkirk to Dies, and after sauntering through several Dutch towns, 
spent eight months at Maestricht, in the care of an hospital, where 
acquiring some military ardor, he was next an army chaplain at the 
battle of Senef (1674), immediately after which he was sent to Rochelle 
to embark for Canada. A convent life was, it is clear, irksome to him, 
and how little he was sensible of the dignity of the priesthood, either 
before God or man, we may judge by this extraordinary admission: 
" I used oftentimes to skulk behind the doors of victualling houses, to 
hear the seamen give an account of their adventures This oc- 
cupation was so agreeable to me, that [despite, he tells us, the nausea 
caused by their smoking] I spent whole days and nights at it without 
eating." Arrived in Canada, he preached the Advent and Lent to the 
hospital nuns at Quebec, being chosen by Bishop Laval, whose favor 
he had secured on the voyage by a display of zeal which by a train 
of incidents drew on him all La Salle's enmity. This brings him to 
1676, when after rambling around Quebec, as far as Three-Rivers, he 
was sent to Fort Frontenac, with Father Buisset to direct the Indians 
gathered there. This now became the centre of new rambles, which 
he extended to the cantons of the Five Nations, visiting Onondaga, 
Oneida, and the Mohawk, in the last of which while entertained by the 
Jesuit missionary (probably Father Bruyas), he copied his Iroquois 
dictionary, for in this work, as if to spite his former friends, he men- 
tions those missionaries in several places with terms of praise. He then 
visits Albany, and though entreated by the Dutch to stay, returned 
to Fort Frontenac. In 1678, he went down to Quebec, and soon after 
his arrival received orders to join La Salle's expedition. From this 
point his journal rolls on as in the Description de la Louisiane, down 
to the 12th of March, 1680, till which day he was detained by the float- 
ing ice, but here a new scene breaks on the startled reader: Hennepin 



io8 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. 



tells us, that he actually went down the Mississippi to the gulf, but 
had not published the fact to avoid the hostility of La Salle. Amazed at 
so unexpected a revelation, we read on carefully, but find that he waited 
till the twelfth, yet started on the eighth, being consequently in two 
places at once, each moment during those four days ; thus aided, he 
reached the mouth of the Mississippi by the twenty-fifth, or at most, 
twenty-sixth of March, after celebrating, on the 23d of March, the 
festival of Easter which, unfortunately for his accuracy, fell that year 
on the 21st of April, as he himself knew, for in his former work (p. 
242), he states that he reached the Issati village about Easter, which, 
in his loose style, means some days after it. But to return to his voy- 
age down, achieved in thirteen, or at most, eighteen days ; he planted a 
cross and wished to wait a few days to make observations, but his men 
refused, and he was compelled to embark again. They did wait, how- 
ever, some days it seems, for he started only on the first of April; by 
the twenty-fourth, he had reached and left the Arkansas, as he tells us 
in two different places (pp. 129, 137), and ascending toward the Illinois, 
advanced only by night for fear of a surprise by the French of Fort 
Crevecceur. By the twelfth of the same month of April, being twelve 
days before he reached the Arkansas, he was taken by the Sioux a 
hundred and fifty leagues above the mouth of the Illinois, making all 
that distance from the gulf in eleven days, and the distance from the 
Arkansas, in considerably less than no time at all. 

From this point, it continues with but occasional variations, as in 
the Description de la Louisiane, except that de Luth appears more fre- 
quently down to their ascending the Wisconsin. 

The second part, or second'volume, contains an account of La Salle's 
last voyage, in which Father Anastasius is frequently cited; the sub- 
sequent part, from page 49 to 151, treats of the manners, and customs 
of the Indians, and their conversion, and then follows an account of the 
capture of Quebec, in 1628, by the English, and of the early Recollect 
missions. 

Two things in this volume at once meet us, the horrible confusion 
of dates, and the utter impossibility of performing the voyages in the 
times given. These objections were made at the time, but were stoutly 
met by Hennepin, although the former seems not to have been much 
attended to by him. He gives us, however, a dissertation on the varia- 
tion of the needle, and the difference of time in Europe and America, 
which had confused him somewhat in his ideas, and prevented his 
accuracy in that point. As to the impracticability of the matter, he 
denies it, averring that he had time enough and to spare, as a bark 
canoe can, if necessary, go ninety miles a day up stream! 

But a heavier charge was made when his new work was compared 
to the Etablissement de la Foi; his new journal down was but a set of 
scraps from that of Father Membre, and the reader may verify the 
truth of this charge by examining the parallel passages given by the 



THE WORKS OF FATHER HENNEPIN. IOO, 

accurate and judicious Sparks, in his life of La Salle, or by comparing 
Membre's journal in this volume with the English Hennepin, or even 
with the abridgment of it in vol. i., of Historical Collections of Louisiana. 
Hennepin admits the similarity, and accuses le Clercq or le Roux, whom 
he asserts to be the real author, of having published as Membre's, his, 
Hennepin's journal, which he had lent to le Roux, at Quebec. Let us 
hear his own words : " But if I do not blame Father le Clercq for the 
honorable mention he makes of his relative (Membre), I think every- 
body will condemn him for his concealing the name of the author he 
has transcribed, and thereby attributing to himself ( ? Membre or le 
Clercq), the glory of my perilous voyage. This piece of injustice is 
common enough in this age." 

Sparks, who has the honor of having completely exposed Hennepin, 
and "the injustice common in that age," which induced Hennepin, le 
Clercq, Douay, Joutel, and others, to endeavor to rob Marquette of the 
glory due to his perilous voyage, shows this pretext of Hennepin to be 
groundless. We might stop to examine it, if only here he had copied 
le Clercq; but, on examination, we find that almost all the additional 
matter in the Nouvelle Decouverte is drawn from the Etablissement de 
la Foi, and almost literally. This is the case with the whole second 
part, where, though he cites Father Anastasius, he copies the remarks 
of the author of the Etablissement. What relates to the Indians is full 
of extracts from the latter work, and the capture of Quebec, and the 
early missions are mere copies. In the edition of 1720, which Charle- 
voix calls the second, and, perhaps, in some previous edition the amount 
of stolen matter is still larger; but some was of such a nature as to 
bring ecclesiastical censure on the work. For, strange as it may seem, 
Hennepin residing unfrocked in Holland, the flatterer and pensioner of 
William III., seems to have remained a Catholic and Franciscan to the 
last ; at least I have seen nothing to establish the contrary. Had interest 
or ambition been his only motive, he would certainly have thrown off 
both titles at a time when the frenzy of religious animosity possessed the 
English public. 

But while doing him this justice, that he does not seem to have been 
led by interest or ambition of place, while admitting that many of his 
descriptions are graphic, and to some extent reliable, we say all that 
can be said in his favor. Where in the main fact he is supported by 
others, we have followed him with caution in details, but we must admit 
that the charges brought against him are too well substantiated to allow 
us to hesitate as to his character. 

A question still remains as to what he really did do on leaving Fort 
Crevecceur. In his first work, as we have already remarked, he states 
that he was sent to explore the Illinois to its mouth, or to visit some 
tribes where a mission was to be established; and he tells us that he 
had some design of going down the Mississippi to the gulf, but he no- 
where says that he ascended it before he was taken. In the last, he 



110 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. 



was sent to the Mississippi, and the tribes on it to get the friendship 
of the nations inhabiting its banks, and as he tells us he went down. In 
both, at a very late period, he tells us that La Salle promised to send 
him further supplies at the mouth of the Wisconsin. 

In neither have we any journal of his voyage up the river; the 
geographical description is not that of a traveller ascending, as he 
describes first what he saw last; and though voyaging with Sioux,* 
gives the Wisconsin the same name as Marquette, who reached it 
through the Outagamis. What then did he do between March 12th, 
and April 12th? This must remain a mystery. That he went down 
to the gulf, is too absurd to be received for a moment; that he went 
up is nowhere asserted by him, and is, I think, very doubtful. For 
my own part, I should rather believe that he was taken in an attempt 
to descend, or in some way acting contrary to the directions of La 
Salle. His evident avoiding of the latter is suspicious, and shows that 
he could not give a satisfactory account of his proceedings ; for winter- 
ing at Mackinaw, he must have known that La Salle had passed out to 
rejoin them at Fort Crevecceur, and that his own companions had been 
compelled to leave the fort, and were then at Green bay.* Then, too 
as to his description of the upper Mississippi, I am inclined to think 
it due to de Luth, who, as le Clercq tells us, was the first to reach the 
lake of the Issatis, and open the way to the missionaries; this seems 
more probable as in his last work Hennepin attacks de Luth, and en- 
deavors to destroy the credit, as though de Luth could and, perhaps, 
did tell another story. It will, therefore, be a matter of interest to learn 
whether any reports of his are still to be found, as the mere fact of 
Hennepin's attacking him gives them considerable value. 

In the meantime Hennepin's account of the upper Mississippi must 
stand as first published, though we can not tell how much of it he really 
saw ; standing on its own merits, it is an account which the first Ameri- 
can explorers of the upper river compared as they went along, and 
found sufficiently accurate in one who could only guess at the various 
distances which he had to mention. As a valuable paper connected 
with the discoveries of the Mississippi, we insert it here, regretting our 
inability to give in justice a more flattering portrait of the writer. 

♦Hennepin left Mackinaw on Easter week, 1681 (April, 6-13), and F. Membre arrived there 
on the 13th of June, and La Salle from Illinois, about the fifteenth. On Vol. I., p. 59, of 
this series, there is a typographical error Fete Dieu, in October, should be Octave of Corpus 
Christi, being that year June 13th. 



NARRATIVE 



OF THE VOYAGE 



TO THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI, 



BY 



FATHER LOUIS HENNEPIN. 



FROM HIS "DESCRIPTION DE LA LOUISIANE," PRINTED AT PARIS, IN 1683. 



E set out from Fort Crevecoeur the 29th of February, 



VV 1680, and toward evening, while descending the 
Seignelay [Ilinois], we met on the way several parties of 
Islinois* returning to their village in their periaguas or gon- 
dolas, loaded with meat. They would have obliged us to 
return, our two boatmen were even shaken, but as they would 
have had to pass by Fort Crevecoeur, where our Frenchmen 
would have stopped them, we pursued our way the next day, 
and my two men afterward confessed the design which they 
had entertained, t 

* We have retained Hennepin's orthography of proper names through- 
out this narrative. 

f Hennepin's party, according to his account, consisted of himself 
and two men, Anthony Auguelle, commonly called the Picard du Gay, 
and Michael Ako. The latter was intrusted by La Salle with the goods, 
and is probably the sieur Dacan of some other writers, as Mr. Sparks 
informs me, that he saw manuscripts in which it was written d'Acau. 
Hennepin in the preface to the first part of the English volume, charges 
La Salle with having maliciously caused the death of one of his two 
companions, meaning Ako, as he represents the other to be alive. 




112 NARRATIVE OF FATHER HENNEPIN. 

The river Seignelay on which we were sailing, is as deep 
and broad as the Seine, at Paris, and in two or three places 
widens out to a quarter of a league. It is lined with hills, 
whose sides are covered with fine large trees. Some of 
these hills are half a league apart, leaving between them a 
marshy strip often inundated, especially in the spring and 
fall, but producing, nevertheless, quite large trees. On as- 
cending these hills, you discover prairies further than the 
eye can reach, studded at intervals, with groves of tall trees, 
apparently planted there intentionally. The current of the 
river is not perceptible, except in time of great rains; it is 
at all times navigable for large barks about a hundred 
leagues, from its mouth to the Islinois village, whence its 
course almost always runs south by southwest. 

On the 7th of March, we found, about two leagues from 
its mouth, a nation called Tamaroa, or Maroa, composed of 
two hundred families. They would have taken us to their 
village west of the river Colbert (Mississippi), six or seven 
leagues below the mouth of the river Seignelay ; but our two 
canoemen, in hopes of still greater gain, preferred to pass on, 
according to the advice I then gave them. These last In- 
dians seeing that we carried iron and arms to their enemies, 
and unable to overtake us in their periaguas, which are 
wooden canoes, much heavier than our bark ones, which 
went much faster than their boats, despatched their young 
men after us by land, to pierce us with their arrows at some 
narrow part of the river, but in vain; for soon after dis- 
covering the fire made by these warriors at their ambuscade, 
we crossed the river at once, and gaining the other side, en- 
camped in an island, leaving our canoe loaded and our little 
dog to wake us, so as to embark with all speed, should the 
Indians attempt to surprise us by swimming across. 

Soon after leaving these Indians, we came to the mouth of 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 1 3 

the River Seignelay, fifty leagues distant from Fort Creve- 
coeur, and about a hundred from the great Islinois village. 
It is between 36 ° and 37 0 N. latitude, and consequently one 
hundred and twenty or thirty leagues from the gulf of 
Mexico. 

In the angle formed on the south by this river, at its 
mouth, is a flat precipitous rock, about forty feet high, very 
well suited for building a fort. On the northern side, op- 
posite the rock, and on the west side beyond the river, are 
fields of black earth, the end of which you can not see, all 
ready for cultivation, which would be very advantageous 
for the existence of a colony. 

The ice which floated down from the north kept us in this 
place till the 12th of March, when we continued our route, 
traversing the river and sounding on all sides to see whether 
it was navigable. There are, indeed, three islets in the mid- 
dle, near the mouth of the river Seignelay, which stop the 
floating wood and trees from the north, and form several 
large sand-bars, yet the channels are deep enough, and there 
is sufficient water for barks; large flat-boats can pass there 
at all times. 

The River Colbert runs south-southwest, and comes from 
the north and northwest; it runs between two chains of 
mountains, quite small here, which wind with the river, and 
in some places are pretty far from the banks, so that between 
the mountains and the river, there are large prairies, where 
you often see herds of wild cattle browsing. In other places 
these eminences leave semi-circular spots covered with grass 
or wood. Beyond these mountains you discover vast plains, 
but the more we approach the northern side ascending, the 
earth became apparently less fertile, and the woods less beau- 
tiful than in the Islinois country. 

This great river is almost everywhere a short league in 



114 NARRATIVE OF FATHER HENNEPIN. 

width, and in some place, two or three; it is divided by a 
number of islands covered with trees, interlaced with so 
many vines as to be almost impassable. It receives no con- 
siderable river on the western side except that of the Oton- 
tenta,* and another, St. Peter's,t which comes from the 
west northwest, seven or eight leagues from St. Anthony of 
Padua's falls. 

On the eastern side you meet first an inconsiderable river 
(Rock river), and then further on another, called by the 
Indians Onisconsin, or Misconsin, which comes from the 
east and east-northeast. Sixty leagues up you leave it, and 
make a portage of half a league to reach the Bay of the 
Fetid (Puants) by another river which, near its course, 
meanders most curiously. It is almost as large as the river 
Seignelay, or Ilinois, and empties into the river Colbert, a 
hundred leagues above the river Seignelay. $ 

* This would seem the Desmoines, the largest south of St. Peter's, 
but the Iowa is not much inferior, and would better suit his description 
as being near half way between the Illinois and Lake Pepin. The 
name, too, would induce us to put it higher, as he doubtless means 
the tribe called by Membre Anthontantas, and by Marquette on his map, 
Otontanta, the same as the former, if u and n are transposed. 

f The St. Peter's river flows through the centre of the Sioux territo- 
ries, and is a magnificent river. It was visited by Le Sueur, the French 
geologist, as early as 1688 (Hist. Coll. La., vol. iii.), and is very correctly 
described by him. It is remarkable for its mineral deposites, and the va- 
riety of clays found on its banks, which are employed by the Indians 
in painting their faces and bodies. Its waters are transparent, hence 
the Indian name of wate-paw-mene-saute, or clear water river. The 
Minokantongs, or people of the waters, are located about its mouth, and 
the Yengetongs, and the Sissitongs, inhabit the upper part of it 
(Schoolcraft) ; their principal traffic is in buffalo-robes. The numer- 
ical strength of the Sioux nation is now estimated at about twenty-two 
thousand. — F 

t It must have been just here that he was taken by the Sioux, if he 
sailed up the Mississippi before his capture, for he had gone two hun- 
dred leagues after leaving the Illinois, who were one hundred leagues 
from the mouth of their river, and the other one hundred would bring 
him to the Wisconsin though if he counts the hundred on the Illinois 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 115 

Twenty-four leagues above, you come to the Black river 
called by the Nadouessious, or Islati Chabadeba, or Cha- 
baaudeba, it seems quite inconsiderable. Thirty leagues 
higher up, you find the lake of Tears (Lake Pepin), which 
we so named, because some of the Indians who had taken 
us, wishing to kill us, wept the whole night, to induce the 
others to consent to our death. This lake which is formed 
by the River Colbert, is seven leagues long, and about four 
wide; there is no considerable current in the middle that we 
could perceive, but only at its entrance and exit.* Half a 
league below the lake of Tears, on the south side, is Buf- 
falo river, full of turtles. It is so called by the Indians on 
account of the numbers of buffalo (boeufs) found there. 
We followed it for ten or twelve leagues; it empties im- 
petuously into the river Colbert, but as you ascend it, it is 
constantly calm and free from rapids. It is skirted by moun- 
tains, far enough off at times to form prairies. The mouth 
is wooded both sides, and is full as large as that of the 
Seignelay. 

Forty leagues above is a river full of rapids (S't. Croix), 
by which, striking northwest, you can reach Lake Conde 
(Superior), that is, as far as Nimissakouat river,t which 

from the village proper, and not from the camp, we must go thirty- 
leagues further, above Black river. But if captured here, how could 
it have taken the Indians, rowing from morning till night, nineteen days 
to reach St. Anthony's falls? 

* This beautiful sheet of water is an expansion of the Mississippi 
river, six miles below the Sioux village of Talangamanae, and one 
hundred below the falls of St. Anthony. It is indented with several 
bays and prominent points which serve to enhance the beauty of its 
scenery. A few miles below this lake, on the west bank of the Missis- 
sippi, are the remains of one of the most interesting and extensive of 
those ancient circumvallations, which are spread over the valley of the 
Mississippi. It was first described by Carver, in 1768. — F. 

t This is probably the St. Louis which, on the map of the Jesuit Rela- 
tion of i67o-'7i (Bancroft, vol. iii.), is marked as the way to the Sioux, 



Il6 NARRATIVE OF FATHER HENNEPIN. 

empties into the lake. This first river is called Tomb river, 
because the Issati left there the body of one of their warriors, 
killed by a rattlesnake. According to their custom, I put a 
blanket on the grave, which act of humanity gained me 
much importance by the gratitude displayed by the deceased's 
countrymen, in a great banquet which they gave me in their 
country, and to which more than a hundred Indians were 
invited. 

Continuing to ascend the Colbert ten or twelve leagues 
more, the navigation is interrupted by a fall, which I called 
St. Anthony of Padua's, in gratitude for the favors done me 
by the Almighty through the intercession of that great saint, 
whom we had chosen patron and protector of all our enter- 
prises. This fall is forty or fifty feet high, divided in the 
middle by a rocky island of pyramidal form.* The high 
mountains which skirt the river Colbert last only as far as 
the river Onisconsin, about one hundred and twenty leagues ; 
at this place it begins to flow from the west and northwest, 
without our having been able to learn from the Indians, who 
have ascended it very far, where it rises. They merely told 
us that twenty or thirty leagues below (dessous), there is a 
second fall, at the foot of which are some villages of the 
prairie people, called Thinthonha, who live there a part of 
the year. Eight leagues above St. Anthony of Padua's falls 

sixty leagues west, being nearly the distance here given by Hennepin 
between Millelacs and Lake Superior. 

* These celebrated falls, now no longer beyond the pale of civilization, 
have been much better described by modern travellers. Schoolcraft 
places them fourteen miles below the confluence of the Mississawgaei- 
gon, or Rum river. The village of St. Anthony with schools and its 
churches now occupies the east bank of the river at the head of the 
cataract. The scenery is picturesque and beautiful, but presents none 
of that majesty and grandeur which belong to the cataract of Niagara. 
The Indian name of these falls in the Sioux language, is Owah-menah, 
or the falling water. — F. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. II J 

on the right, you find the Issati or Nadoussion river (Rum 
river), with a very narrow mouth, which you can ascend to 
the north for about seventy leagues to Lake Buade or Issati 
(Mille lake), where it rises. We called this St. Francis 
river. This last lake spreads out into great marshes, pro- 
ducing wild-rice, like many other places down to the extrem- 
ity of the Bay of the Fetid. This kind of grain grows wild 
in marshy places: it resembles oats, but tastes better, and 
the stems are longer as well as the stalk. The Indians gather 
it when ripe. The women tie several stalks together with 
white wood bark to prevent its being all devoured by the 
flocks of duck and teal found there. The Indians lay in a 
stock for part of the year, to eat out of the hunting season. 

Lake Buade, or Lake of the Issati (Mille lake), is about 
seventy leagues west of Lake Conde; it is impossible to go 
from one to the other on account of the marshy and quaggy 
nature of the ground ; you might go, though with difficulty 
on the snow in snowshoes ; by water it is a hundred and fi fty 
leagues, on account of the many detours to be made, and 
there are many portages. From Lake Conde, to go conve- 
niently in canoe, you must pass by Tomb river, where we 
found only the bones of the Indian whom I mentioned above, 
the bears having eaten the flesh, and pulled up poles which 
the deceased's relatives had planted in form of a monument. 
One of our boatmen found a war-calumet beside the grave, 
and an earthen pot upset, in which the Indians had left fat 
buffalo meat to assist the departed, as they say, in making 
his journey to the land of souls. 

In the neighborhood of Lake Buade are many other lakes, 
whence issue several rivers, on the banks of which live the 
Issati, Nadouessans, Tinthonha (which means prairie-men), 
Chongaskethon, Dog, or Wolf tribe (for chonga among 
these nations means dog or wolf), and other tribes, all which 



Il8 NARRATIVE OF FATHER HENNEPIN. 

we comprise under the name Nadouessiou. These Indians 
number eight or nine thousand warriors, very brave, great 
runners, and very good bowmen. It was by a part of these 
tribes that I and our two canoemen were taken in the fol- 
lowing way : — 

We scrupulously said our morning and evening prayers 
every day on embarking, and the Angelus at noon, adding 
some paraphrases on the Response of St. Bonaventure in 
honor of St. Anthony of Padua. In this way we begged 
of God to meet these Indians by day, for when they dis- 
cover people at night, they kill them as enemies, to rob those 
whom they murder secretly of some axes or knives which 
they value more than we do gold and silver; they even kill 
their own allies, when they can conceal their death, so as 
afterward to boast of having killed men, and so pass for 
soldiers. 

We had considered the river Colbert with great pleasure, 
and without hinderance, to know whether it was navigable 
up and down: we were loaded with seven or eight large 
turkeys, which multiply of themselves in these parts. We 
wanted neither buffalo nor deer, nor beaver, nor fish, nor 
bear meat, for we killed those animals as they swam across 
the river. 

Our prayers were heard when, on the nth of April, 1O80, 
about two o'clock in the afternoon, we suddenly perceived 
thirty-three bark canoes, manned by a hundred and twenty 
Indians, coming down with extraordinary speed, to make 
war on the Miamis, Islinois, and Maroa. These Indians sur- 
rounded us, and while at a distance, discharged some arrows 
at us; but as they approached our canoe the old men seeing 
us with the calumet of peace in our hands, prevented the 
young men from killing us. These brutal men leaping from 
their canoes, some on land, others into the water with fright- 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. II9 

ful cries and yells, approached us, and as we made no re- 
sistance, being only three against so great a number, one of 
them wrenched our calumet from our hands, while our canoe 
and theirs were tied to the shore. We first presented them a 
piece of French tobacco, better for smoking than theirs, and 
the eldest among them uttered the words Miamiha, Miamiha. 
As we did not understand their language, we took a little 
stick, and by signs which we made on the sand, showed them 
that their enemies, the Miamis whom they sought, had fled 
across the river Colbert to join the Islinois; when they saw 
themselves discovered and unable to surprise their enemies, 
three or four old men, laying their hands on my head, wept 
in a lugubrious tone. With a wretched handkerchief I had 
left, I wiped away their tears, but they would not smoke our 
peace-calumet. They made us cross the river with great 
cries, which all shouted together with tears in their eyes; 
they made us row before them, and we heard yells capable 
of striking the most resolute with terror. After landing our 
canoe and goods, part of which had been already taken, we 
made a fire to boil our kettle; we gave them two large wild 
turkeys that we had killed. These Indians having called an 
assembly to deliberate what they were to do with us; the 
two head-chiefs of the party approaching, showed us, by 
signs, that the warriors wished to tomahawk us. This com- 
pelled me to go to the war chiefs with one of my men, 
leaving the other by our property, and throw into their midst 
six axes, fifteen knives, and six fathom of our black tobacco, 
then bowing down my head, I showed them, with an axe, 
that they might kill us, if they thought proper. This present 
appeased many individual members, who gave us some 
beaver to eat, putting the three first morsels in our mouth 
according to the custom of the country, and blowing on the 
meat which was too hot, before putting their bark dish be- 

14 



120 NARRATIVE OF FATHER HENNEPIN. 

fore us, to let us eat as we liked; we spent the night in 
anxiety, because before retiring at night, they had returned 
us our peace-calumet. Our two boatmen were, however, 
resolved to sell their lives dearly, and to resist if attacked; 
their arms and swords were ready. As for my own part, 
J determined to allow myself to be killed without any re- 
sistance, as I was going to announce to them a God, who 
had been falsely accused, unjustly condemned, and cruelly 
crucified, without showing the least aversion to those who 
put him to death. We watched in turn in our anxiety so 
as not to be surprised asleep. 

In the morning April 12th, one of their captains named 
Narrhetoba, with his face and bare body smeared with paint, 
asked me for our peace-calumet, filled it with tobacco of his 
country, made all his band smoke first, and then all the 
others who plotted our ruin. He then gave us to under- 
stand that we must go with them to their country, and they 
all turned back with us; having thus broken off their voy- 
age, I was not sorry in this conjuncture to continue our dis- 
covery with these people. 

But my greatest trouble was, that I found it difficult to 
say my office before these Indians many seeing me move my 
lips said, in a fierce tone, Ouackanche; and as we did not 
know a word of their language, we believed that they were 
angry at it. Michael Ako, all out of countenance, told 
me, that if I continued to say my breviary we should all 
three be killed, and the Picard begged me at least to pray 
apart, so as not to provoke them. I followed the latter's 
advice, but the more I concealed myself, the more I had 
the Indians at my heels, for when I entered the wood, they 
thought I was going to hide some goods under ground, so 
that I knew not on what side to turn to pray, for they never 
let me out of sight. This obliged me to beg pardon of my 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 121 

two canoemen, assuring them that I could not dispense with 
saying my office, that if we were massacred for that, I would 
be the innocent cause of their death, as well as of my own. 
By the word Ouakanche, the Indians meant that the book I 
was reading was a spirit; but by their gesture they neverthe- 
less showed a kind of aversion, so that to accustom them to 
it, I chanted the litany of the Blessed Virgin in the canoe 
with my book open. They thought that the breviary was 
a spirit which taught me to sing for their diversion, for 
these people are naturally fond of singing. 

The outrages done us by these Indians during our whole 
route was incredible, for seeing that our canoe was much 
larger and more heavily laden than theirs (for they have 
only a quiver full of arrows, a bow, and a wretched dressed 
skin, to serve too as a blanket at night, for it was still pretty 
cold at that season, always going north), and that we could 
not go faster than they, they put some warriors with us to 
help us row, to oblige us to follow them. These Indians 
sometimes make thirty or forty leagues, when at war and 
pressed for time, or anxious to surprise some enemy. Those 
who had taken us were of various villages and of different 
opinions as to us ; we cabined every night by the young chief 
who had asked for our peace-calumet, and put ourselves 
under his protection; but jealousy arose among these In- 
dians, so that the chief of the party named Aquipaguetin, 
one of whose sons had been killed by the Miamis seeing that 
he could not avenge his death on that nation as he had 
wished, turned all his rage on us. He wept through almost 
every night him he had lost in war, to oblige those who had 
come out to avenge him, to kill us and seize all we had, so 
as to be able to pursue his enemies; but those who liked 
European goods were much disposed to preserve us, so as 
to attract other Frenchmen there and get iron, which is ex- 



122 NARRATIVE OF FATHER HENNEPIN. 

tremely precious in their eyes; but of which they knew the 
great utility only when they saw one of our French boat- 
men kill three or four bustards or turkeys at a single shot, 
while they can scarcely kill only one with an arrow. In 
consequence, as we afterward learned, that the words Manza 
Ouackange, mean " iron that has understanding," and so 
these nations call a gun which breaks a man's bones, while 
their arrows only glance through the flesh they pierce, rarely 
breaking the bones of those whom they strike, and conse- 
quently producing wounds more easily cured than those 
made by our European guns, which often cripple those 
whom they wound. 

We had some design of going to the mouth of the river 
Colbert, which more probably empties into the gulf of 
Mexico than into the Red sea; but the tribes that seized us, 
gave us no time to sail up and down the river. 

We had made about two hundred leagues by water since 
leaving the Islinois, and we sailed with the Indians who took 
us during some nineteen days, sometimes north, sometimes 
northwest, according to the direction which the river took. 
By the estimate which we formed, during that time (depuis 
cetemps la), we made about two hundred and fifty leagues, 
or even more on Colbert river; for these Indians row in 
great force, from early in the morning till evening, scarcely 
stopping to eat during the day. To oblige us to keep up 
with them, they gave us every day four or five men to in- 
crease the crew of our little vessel, which was much heavier 
than theirs. Sometimes we cabined when it rained, and 
when the weather was not bad, we slept on the ground with- 
out any shelter ; this gave us all time to contemplate the stars 
and the moon when it shone. Notwithstanding the fatigue 
of the day, the youngest of these Indian warriors danced 
the calumet to four or five of their chiefs till midnight, and 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 23 

the chief to whom they went, sent a warrior of his family in 
due ceremony to those who sang, to let them in turn smoke 
his war-calumet, which is distinguished from the peace-calu- 
met by different feathers. The end of this kind of pande- 
monium was terminated every day by two of the youngest 
of those who had had relations killed in war; they took sev- 
eral arrows which they presented by the points all crossed 
to the chiefs, weeping bitterly; they gave them to them to 
kiss. Notwithstanding the force of their yelling, the fatigue 
of the day, the watching by night, the old men almost all 
awoke at daybreak for fear of being surprised by their ene- 
mies. As soon as dawn appeared one of them gave the cry, 
and in an instant all the warriors entered their bark canoes, 
some passing around the islands in the river to kill some 
beasts, while the most alert went by land, to discover whether 
any enemy's fire was to be seen. It was their custom always 
to take post on the point of some island for safety sake, as 
their enemies have only periaguas, wooden canoes, which 
can not go as fast as they do, on account of their weight. 
Only northern tribes have birch to make bark canoes; the 
southern tribes who have not that kind of tree, are deprived 
of this great convenience, which wonderfully facilitates the 
northern Indians in going from lake to lake, and by all rivers 
to attack their enemies, and even when discovered, they are 
safe if they can get into their canoes, for those who pursue 
them by land, or in periaguas, can not attack or pursue them 
quickly enough. 

During one of these nineteen days of painful navigation, 
the chief of the party by name Aquipaguetin, resolved to 
halt about noon in a large prairie; having killed a very fat 
bear, he gave a feast to the chief men, and after the repast 
all the warriors began to dance. Their faces, and especially 
their bodies, were marked with various colors, each being 



124 NARRATIVE OF FATHER HENNEPIN. 

distinguished by the figure of different animals, according 
to his particular taste or inclination; some having their hair 
short and full of bear oil, with white and red feathers ; others 
besprinkled their heads with the down of birds which ad- 
hered to the oil. All danced, with their arms akimbo, and 
struck the ground with their feet so stoutly as to leave the 
imprint visible. While a son, master of ceremonies, gave 
each in turn the war-calumet to smoke, he wept bitterly. 
The father in a doleful voice, broken with sighs and sobs, 
with his whole body bathed in tears, sometimes addressed 
the warriors, sometimes came to me, and put his hands on 
my head, doing the same to our two Frenchmen, sometimes 
he raised his eyes to heaven and often uttered the word 
Louis, which means sun, complaining to that great luminary 
of the death of his son. As far as we could conjecture this 
ceremony tended only to our destruction; in fact, the course 
of time showed us that this Indian had often aimed at our 
life; but seeing the opposition made by the other chiefs who 
prevented it, he made us embark again, and employed other 
trickery to get by degrees the goods of our canoemen, not 
daring to take them openly, as he might have done, for fear 
of being accused by his own people of cowardice, which the 
bravest hold in horror. 

This wily savage had the bones of some important de- 
ceased relative, which he preserved with great care in some 
skins dressed and adorned with several rows of black and 
red porcupine quills; from time to time he assembled his 
men to give it a smoke, and made us come several days in 
succession to cover the deceased's bones with goods, and by 
a present wipe away the tears he had shed for him, and for 
his own son killed by the Miamis. To appease this captious 
man, we threw on the bones several fathoms of French to- 
bacco, axes, knives, beads, and some black and white warn- 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 125 

pum bracelets. In this way the Indian stripped us under 
pretexts, which we could not reproach him with, as he de- 
clared that what he asked was only for the deceased, and to 
give the warriors. In fact, he distributed among them all 
that we gave him. By these feints he made us believe that 
being a chief, he took nothing for himself, but what we 
gave him of our own accord. We slept at the point of the 
lake of Tears, which we so called from the tears which this 
chief shed all night long, or by one of his sons, whom he 
caused to weep when tired himself, in order to excite his 
warriors to compassion, and oblige them to kill us and pur- 
sue their enemies to avenge his son's death. 

These Indians at times sent their fleetest by land to chase 
the buffalo on the water side; as these animals crossed the 
river, they sometimes killed forty or fifty, merely to take the 
tongue, and most delicate morsels, leaving the rest with 
which they would not burthen themselves, so as to go on 
more rapidly. We sometimes indeed eat good pieces, but 
without bread, wine, salt, or other seasoning. During our 
three years' travels we had lived in the same way, sometimes 
in plenty, at others compelled to pass twenty-four hours, and 
often more, without eating; because in these little bark 
canoes you can not take much of a load, and with every pre- 
caution you are, for most part of the time, deprived of all 
necessaries of life. If a religious in Europe underwent many 
hardships and labors, and abstinences like those we were 
often obliged to suffer in America, no other proof would be 
needed for his canonization. It is true that we do not al- 
ways merit in such cases and suffer only because we can 
not help it. 

During the night some old men came to weep piteously, 
often rubbing our arms and whole bodies with their hands, 
which they then put on our head. Besides being hindered 



126 NARRATIVE OF FATHER HENNEPIN. 

from sleeping by these tears, I often did not know what to 
think, nor whether these Indians wept because some of their 
warriors would have killed us, or out of pure compassion at 
the ill treatment shown us. 

On another occasion, Aquipaguetin relapsed into his bad 
humor : he had so gained most of the warriors, that one day 
when we were unable to encamp near our protector Narhe- 
toba, we were obliged to go to the very end of the camp, the 
Indians declaring that this chief insisted positively on killing 
us. We accordingly drew from a box twenty knives and 
some tobacco, which we angrily flung down amid the mal- 
contents ; the wretch regarding all his soldiers one after an- 
other hesitated asking their advice, either to refuse or take, 
our present; and as we bowed our head and presented him 
with an axe to kill us, the young chief who was really or pre- 
tendedly our protector took us by the arm, and all in fury 
led us to his cabin. One of his brothers taking some arrows, 
broke them all in our presence, showing us by this action, 
that he prevented their killing us. 

The next day they left us alone in our canoe, without put- 
ting in any Indians to help us, as they usually did; all re- 
mained behind us. After four or five leagues sail another 
chief came to us, made us disembark, and pulling up three 
little piles of grass, made us sit down; he then took a piece 
of cedar full of little round holes in one of which he put a 
stick, which he spun round between his two palms, and in 
this way made fire to light the tobacco in his great calumet. 
After weeping some time, and putting his hands on my head, 
he gave me his peace-calumet to smoke, and showed us that 
we should be in his country in six days. 

Having arrived on the nineteenth day of our navigation 
five leagues below St. Anthony's falls, these Indians landed 
us in a bay and assembled to deliberate about us. They dis- 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 127 

tributed us separately, and gave us to three heads of families 
in place of three of their children who had been killed in war. 
They first seized all our property, and broke our canoe to 
pieces, for fear we should return to their enemies. Their 
own they hid in some alders to use when going to hunt ; and 
though we might easily have reached their country by water, 
they compelled us to go sixty leagues by land, forcing us co 
march from daybreak to two hours after nightfall, and to 
swim over many rivers, while these Indians, who are often 
of extraordinary height, carried our habit on their head ; and 
our two boatmen, who were smaller than myself, on their 
shoulders, because they could not swim as I could. On 
leaving the water, which was often full of sharp ice, I could 
scarcely stand; our legs were all bloody from the ice which 
we broke as we advanced in lakes which we forded, and as 
we eat only once in twenty-four hours, some pieces of meat 
which these barbarians grudgingly gave us, I was so weak 
that I often lay down on the way, resolved to die there, 
rather than follow these Indians who marched on and con- 
tinued their route with a celerity which surpasses the power 
of the Europeans. To oblige us to hasten on, they often set 
fire to the grass of the prairies where we were passing, so 
that we had to advance or burn. I had then a hat which I 
reserved to shield me from the burning rays of the sun in 
summer, but I often dropped it in the flames which we were 
obliged to cross. 

As we approached their village, they divided among them 
all the merchandise of our two canoemen, and were near kill- 
ing each other for our roll of French tobacco, which is very 
precious to these tribes, and more esteemed than gold among 
Europeans. The more humane showed by signs that they 
would give many beaver-skins for what they took. The rea- 
son of the violence was, that this party was made up from 



128 NARRATIVE OF FATHER HENNEPIN. 

two different tribes, the more distant of whom, fearing lest 
the others should retain all the goods in the first villages 
which they would have to pass, wished to take their share in 
advance. In fact, some time after they offered peltries in 
part payment; but our boatmen would not receive them, until 
they gave the full value of all that had been taken. And 
in course of time I have no doubt they will give entire satis- 
faction to the French, whom they will endeavor to draw 
among them to carry on trade. 

These savages also took our brocade chasuble, and all the 
articles of our portable chapel, except the chalice, which they 
durst not touch; for seeing that glittering silver gilt, they 
closed their eyes, saying that it was a spirit which would 
kill them. They also broke a little box with lock and key, 
after telling me, that if I did not break the lock, they would 
do so themselves with sharp stones ; the reason of this vio- 
lence was that from time to time on the route, they could 
not open the box to examine what was inside, having no 
idea of locks and keys; besides, they did not care to carry 
the box, but only the goods which were inside, and which 
they thought considerable, but they found only books and 
papers. 

After five days' march by land, suffering hunger, thirst, 
and outrages, marching all day long without rest, fording 
lakes and rivers, we descried a number of women and chil- 
dren coming to meet our little army. All the elders of this 
nation assembled on our account, and as we saw cabins, and 
bundles of straw hanging from the posts of them, to which 
these savages bind those whom they take as slaves, and burn 
them; and seeing that they made the Picard du Gay sing, 
as he held and shook a gourd full of little round pebbles, 
while his hair and face were filled with paint of different 
colors, and a tuft of white feathers attached to his head by 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 120, 



the Indians, we not unreasonably thought that they wished 
to kill us, as they performed many ceremonies, usually prac- 
tised, when they intend to burn their enemies. The worst of 
it was, too, that not one of us three could make himself 
understood by these Indians; nevertheless, after many vows, 
which every Christian would make in such straits, one of the 
principal Issati chiefs gave us his peace-calumet to smoke, 
and accepted the one we had brought. He then gave us 
some wild rice to eat, presenting it to us in large bark 
dishes, which the Indian women had seasoned with whortle- 
berries, which are black grains which they dry in the sun 
in summer, and are as good as currants. After this feast, 
the best we had had for seven or eight days, the heads of 
families who had adopted us, instead of their sons killed 
in war, conducted us separately each to his village, marching 
through marshes knee deep in water, for a league, after 
which the five wives of the one who called me Mitchinchi, 
that is to say, his son, received us in three bark canoes, and 
took us a short league from our starting place to an island 
where their cabins were. 

On our arrival, which was about Easter, April 21st, 
1680,* one of these Indians who seemed to me decrepit, gave 
me a large calumet to smoke, and weeping bitterly, rubbed 
my head and arms, showing his compassion at seeing me 
so fatigued that two men were often obliged to give me 
their hands to help me to stand up. There was a bearskin 
near the fire, on which he rubbed my legs and the soles of 
my feet with wild-cat oil. 

* This is somewhat vague; Easter Sunday, in 1680, fell on the 21st 
of April; he was taken on the nth of April, travelled nineteen days in 
canoe, and five by land, which brings him to the 5th of May. He per- 
ceived this afterward, and in the English edition, he says, that he ar- 
rived some time in May ; but he there falls into a worse error by putting 
Easter back to the 23d of March. 



130 NARRATIVE OF FATHER HENNEPIN. 

Aquipaguetin's son, who called me his brother, paraded 
about with our brocade chasuble on his bare back, having 
rolled up in it some dead man's bones, for whom these people 
had a great veneration. The priest's girdle made of red 
and white wool, with two tassels at the end, served him for 
suspenders, carrying thus in triumph what he called Pere 
Louis Chinnien, which means " the robe of him who is called 
the sun." After these Indians had used this chasuble to 
cover the bones of their dead, they presented it to some of 
their allies, tribes situated about five hundred leagues west 
of their country, who had sent them an embassy and danced 
the calumet. 

The day after our arrival, Aquipaguetin, who was the 
head of a large family, covered me with a robe made of ten 
large dressed beaver-skins, trimmed with porcupine quills. 
This Indian showed me five or six of his wives, telling them, 
as I afterward learned, that they should in future regard me 
as one of their children. He set before me a bark dish full 
of fish, and ordered all those assembled, that each should 
call me by the name I was to have in the rank of our near 
relationship ; and seeing that I could not rise from the ground 
but by the help of two others, he had a sweating cabin made, 
in which he made me enter naked with four Indians. This 
cabin he covered with bufTalo-skins, and inside he put stones 
red to the middle. He made me a sign to do as the others 
before beginning to sweat, but I merely concealed my naked- 
ness with a handkerchief. As soon as these Indians had 
several times breathed out quite violently, he began to sing 
in a thundering voice, the other seconded him, all putting 
their hands on me, and rubbing me, while they wept bitterly. 
I began to faint, but I came out, and could scarcely take my 
habit to put on. When he had made me sweat thus three 
times a week, I felt as strong as ever. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 131 

I often spent sad hours among these savages; for, besides 
their only giving me a little wild rice and smoked fish roes 
five or six times a week, which they boiled in earthen pots, 
Aquipaguetin took me to a neighboring island with his wives 
and children to till the ground, in order to' sow some tobacco 
seed, and seeds of vegetables that I had brought, and which 
this Indian prized extremely. Sometimes he assembled the 
elders of the village, in whose presence he asked me for a 
compass that I always had in my sleeve; seeing that I made 
the needle turn with a key, and believing justly that we 
Europeans, went all over the habitable globe, guided by this 
instrument, this chief, who was very eloquent, persuaded his 
people that we were spirits, and capable of doing anything 
beyond their reach. At the close of his address, which was 
very animated, all the old men wept over my head, admiring 
in me what they could not understand. I had an iron pot 
with three lion-paw feet, which these Indians never dared 
touch, unless their hand was wrapped up in some robe. The 
women hung it to the branch of a tree, not daring to enter 
the cabin where it was. I was some time unable to make 
myself understood by these people, but feeling myself 
gnawed by hunger, I began to compile a dictionary of their 
language by means of their children, with whom I made 
myself familiar, in order to learn. 

As soon as I could catch the word Taketchiabihen, which 
means in their language, " How do you call that," I be- 
came, in a little while, able to converse with them on familiar 
things. At first, indeed, to ask the word run in their lan- 
guage, I had to quicken my steps from one end of their large 
cabin to the other. The chiefs of these savages seeing my 
desire to learn, often made me write, naming all the parts 
of the human body, and as I would not put on paper certain 
indelicate words, at which they do not blush, it afforded 



I32 NARRATIVE OF FATHER HENNEPIN. 

them an agreeable amusement. They often put me ques- 
tions, but as I had to look at my paper, to answer them, they 
said to one another : " When we ask Pere Louis [for so they 
had heard our two Frenchmen call me] , he does not answer 
us; but as soon as he has looked at what is white [for they 
have no word to say paper] , he answers us, and tells us his 
thoughts; that white thing," said they, " must be a spirit 
which tells Pere Louis all we say." They concluded that 
our two Frenchmen were not as great as I, because they 
could not work like me on what was white. In consequence 
the Indians believed that I could do everything; when the 
rain fell in such quantities as to incommode them, or prevent 
their going to hunt, they told me to stop it; but I knew 
enough to answer them by pointing to the clouds, that he 
was great chief of heaven, was master of everything, and 
that they bid me to do, did not depend on me. 

These Indians often asked me how many wives and chil- 
dren I had, and how old I was, that is, how many winters, 
for so these nations alway count. These men never illumined 
by the light of a faith were surprised at the answer I made 
them ; for pointing to our two Frenchmen whom I had then 
gone to visit three leagues from our villages, I told them that 
a man among us could have only one wife till death; that as 
for me, I had promised the Master of life to live as they saw 
me, and to come and live with them to teach them that he 
would have them be like the French ; that this great Master 
of life had sent down fire from heaven, and destroyed a na- 
tion given to enormous crimes, like those committed among 
them. But that gross people till then, lawless and faithless, 
turned all I said into ridicule. " How," said they, " would 
you have those two men with thee have wives ? Ours would 
not live with them, for they have their hair all over the face, 
and we have none there or elsewhere." In fact, they were 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 33 

never better pleased with me, than when I was shaved; and 
from a complaisance certainly not criminal, I shaved every 
week. All our kindred seeing that I wished to leave them, 
made a packet of beaver-skins worth six hundred livres 
among the French. These peltries they gave me to 
induce me to remain among them, to introduce me 
to strange nations that were coming to visit them, and 
in restitution of what they had robbed me of ; but I refused 
these presents, telling them that I had not come among them 
to gather beaver-skins, but only to tell them the will of the 
great Master of life, and to live wretchedly with them, after 
having left a most abundant country. " It is true," said 
they, " that we have no chase in this part, and that thou suf- 
ferest, but wait till summer, then we will go and kill buffalo 
in the warm country." I should have been satisfied had 
they fed me as they did their children, but they eat secretly 
at night unknown to me. Although women are, for the most 
part, more kind and compassionate than men, they gave 
what little fish they had to their children, regarding me as a 
slave made by their warriors in their enemies' country, and 
they reasonably preferred their children's lives to mine. 

There were some old men who often came to weep over 
my head in a sighing voice, saying, " Son," or " Nephew, I 
feel sorry to see thee without eating, and to learn how badly 
our warriors treated thee on the way; they are young braves, 
without sense, who would have killed thee, and have robbed 
thee of all thou hast. Hadst thou wanted buffalo or beaver- 
robes, we would wipe away thy tears, but thou wilt have 
nothing of what we offer thee." 

Ouasicoude, that is, the Pierced-pine, the greatest of all 
the Issati chiefs, being very indignant at those who had so 
maltreated us, said, in open council, that those who had 
robbed us of all we had, were like hungry curs that stealthily 



134 NARRATIVE OF FATHER HENNEPIN. 

snatch a bit of meat from the bark dish, and then fly; so 
those who had acted so toward us, deserved to be regarded 
as dogs, since they insulted men who brought them iron and 
merchandise, which they had never had; that he would find 
means to punish the one who had so outraged us. This is 
what the brave chief showed to all his nation, as we shall 
see hereafter. 

As I often went to visit the cabins of these last nations, I 
found a sick child, whose father's name was Mamenisi; hav- 
ing a moral certainty of its death, I begged our two* French- 
men to give me their advice, telling them I believed myself 
obliged to baptize it. Michael Ako would not accompany 
me, the Picard du Gay alone followed me to act as sponsor, 
or rather as witness of the baptism.* I christened the child 
Antoinette in honor of St. Anthony of Padua, as well as 
from the Picard's name which was Anthony Auguelle. He 
was a native of Amiens, and a nephew of Mr. de Cauroy, 
procurator-general of the Premonstratensians, both now at 
Paris. Having poured natural water on the head of this 
Indian child, and uttered these words : " Creature of God, I 
baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost," I took half an altar cloth which I had 
wrested from the hands of an Indian who had stolen it 
from me, and put it on the body of the baptized child; for as 
I could not say mass for want of wine and vestments, this 
piece of linen could not be put to a better use, than to en- 
shroud the first Christian child among these tribes. I do 
not know whether the softness of the linen had refreshed 
her, but she was the next day smiling in her mother's arms, 
who believed that I had cured her child, but she died soon 
after to my great consolation. 

* This a curious affair, a missionary consulting two canoemen as to 
the expediency of conferring a sacrament. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 35 

During our stay among the Issati or Nadouessiou, we saw 
Indians who came as embassadors from about five hundred 
leagues to the west. They informed us that the Assenipoua- 
lacs* were then only seven or eight days distant to the 
northeast of us; all the other known tribes on the west and 
northwest inhabit immense plains and prairies abounding 
in buffalo and peltries, where they are sometimes obliged to 
make fires with buffalo dung for want of wood. 

Three months after, all these nations assembled, and the 
chiefs having regulated the places for hunting the buffalo, 
they dispersed in several bands so as not to starve each 
other. Aquipaguetin, one of the chiefs who had adopted 
me as his son, wished to take me to the west with about two 
hundred families; I made answer that I awaited spirits (so 
they called Frenchmen), at the river Ouisconsin, which 
empties into the river Colbert, who were to join me to bring 
merchandise, and that if he went that way, I would con- 
tinue with him; he would have gone but for those of his 
nation. In the beginning of July, 1680, we descended in 
canoe southward with the great chief named Ouasicoude, 
that is to say, the Pierced-pine, with about eighty cabins, 
composed of more than a hundred and thirty families, and 
about two hundred and fifty warriors. Scarcely would 
the Indians give me a place in their little fleet, for they had 
only old canoes. They went four leagues lower down to get 
birch bark to make some more. Having made a hole in the 
ground to hide our silver chalice and our papers till we re- 
turned from the hunt, and keeping only our breviary, so as 
not to be loaded, I stood on the bank of a lake formed by 
the river we had called St. Francis and stretched out my 

* This name, Assenipoualak, has now been softened to Assiniboin; 
it is the Algonquin epithet for a large branch of the Dahcotah family, 
long hostile to the Sioux, written also simply Poualak. 

15 



I36 NARRATIVE OF FATHER HENNEPIN. 

hand to the canoes as they rapidly passed in succession; 
our Frenchmen also had one for themselves, which the In- 
dians had given them; they would not take me in, Michael 
Ako saying that he had taken me long enough to satisfy 
him. I was hurt at this answer, seeing myself thus aban- 
doned by Christians, to whom I had always done good, as 
they both often acknowledged; but God having never aban- 
doned me in that painful voyage, inspired two Indians to 
take me in their little canoe, where I had no other employ- 
ment than to bale out with a little bark tray the water which 
entered by little holes. This I did not do without getting 
all wet. This boat might, indeed, be called a death-box, 
from its lightness and fragility. These canoes do not gen- 
erally weigh over fifty pounds; the least motion of the 
body upsets them, unless you are long habituated to that 
kind of navigation. On disembarking in the evening, the 
Picard as an excuse, told me that their canoe was half 
rotten, and that, had we been three in it, we should have run 
a great risk of remaining on the way. In spite of this ex- 
cuse I told him, that being Christians, they should not act 
so, especially among Indians, more than eight hundred 
leagues from the French settlements; that if they were well 
received in this country, it was only in consequence of my 
bleeding some asthmatic Indians, and my giving them some 
orvietan and other remedies which I kept in my sleeve, and 
by which I had saved the lives of some Indians bit by rattle- 
snakes, and because I had neatly made their tonsure, which 
Indian children wear to the age of eighteen or twenty, but 
have no way of making except by burning the hair with 
red-hot flat stones. I reminded them that by my ingenuity 
I had gained the friendship of these people, who would have 
killed us or made us suffer more, had they not discovered 
about me those remedies which they prize, when they re- 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 37 

store the sick to health. However, the Picard only, as he 
retired to his host's apologized to me. 

Four days after our departure for the buffalo hunt, we 
halted eight leagues above St. Anthony of Padua's falls on 
an eminence opposite the mouth of the river St. Fran- 
cis; here the Indian women made their canoe frames while 
waiting for those who were to bring bark to make canoes. 
The young men went to hunt stag, deer, and beaver, but 
killed so few animals for such a large party, that we could 
very rarely get a bit of meat, having to put up with a broth 
once in every twenty-four hours. The Picard and myself 
went to look for haws, gooseberries, and little wild fruit, 
which often did us more harm than good; this obliged us to 
go alone, as Michael Ako refused, in a wretched canoe to 
Ouisconsin river, which was more than a hundred leagues 
off, to see whether the sieur de la Salle had sent to that 
place a reinforcement of men, with powder, lead, and other 
munitions,, as he had promised us on our departure from 
the Islinois.* 

The Indians would not have suffered this voyage, had 
not one of the three remained with them; they wished me 
to stay, but Michael Ako absolutely refused. Our whole 
stock was fifteen charges of powder, a gun, a wretched 
earthen pot which the Indians had given us, a knife, and a 
beaver-robe, to make a journey of two hundred leagues, thus 
abandoning ourselves to Providence. As we were making 
the portage of our canoe at St. Anthony of Padua's falls, we 
perceived five or six of our Indians who had taken the start; 
one of them was up in an oak opposite the great fall weep- 
ing bitterly, with a well-dressed beaver robe whitened in- 
side and trimmed with porcupine quills which he was offer- 

* This is the first we hear of this promise, or of La Salle's having 
sent him to the Wisconsin, or given him a rendezvous there. 



I38 NARRATIVE OF FATHER HENNEPIN. 

ing as a sacrifice to the falls, which is in itself admirable 
and frightful. I heard him while shedding copious tears 
say as he spoke to the great cataract : " Thou who art a 
spirit, grant that our nation may pass her quietly without 
accident, may kill buffalo in abundance, conquer our ene- 
mies, and bring in slaves, some of whom we will put to 
death before thee; the Messenecqz (so they call the tribe 
named by the French Outouagamis), have killed our kin- 
dred, grant that we may avenge them." In fact, after the 
heat of the buffalo-hunt, they invaded their enemies, killed 
some, and brought others as slaves. If they succeed a 
single time, even after repeated failures, they adhere to their 
superstition. This robe offered in sacrifice served one of 
our Frenchmen, who took it as we returned. 

A league below St. Anthony of Padua's falls, the Picard 
was obliged to land and get his powder-horn which he had 
left at the falls. On his return, I showed him a snake about 
six feet long crawling up a straight and precipitous moun- 
tain and which gradually gained on some swallows' nests 
to eat the young ones; at the foot of the mountain, we saw 
the feathers of those he had apparently eaten, and we pelted 
him down with stones. 

As we descended the river Colbert, we found some of our 
Indians cabined in the islands, loaded with buffalo-meat, 
some of which they gave us. Two hours after landing, 
fifteen or sixteen warriors of the party whom we had left 
above St. Anthony of Padua's falls, entered tomahawk in 
hand, upset the cabins of those who had invited us, took all 
the meat and bear-oil that they found, and greased them- 
selves from head to foot; we at first took them to be enemies, 
but one of those who called himself my uncle, told me, that 
having gone to the buffalo-hunt before the rest, contrary to 
the maxims of the country, they had a right to strip them, 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 39 

because they put the buffaloes to flight before the arrival of 
the mass of the nation. 

During sixty leagues that we sailed down the river, we 
killed only one deer, swimming across, but the heat was so 
great that the meat spoiled in twenty-four hours. This 
made us look for turtles, which we found hard to take, as 
their hearing is acute, and the moment they hear the least 
noise, they jump quickly into the water. We, however, 
took one much larger than the rest, with a thinner shell 
and fatter meat. While I tried to cut off his head, he all but 
cut off one of my fingers. We had drawn one end of our 
canoe ashore, when a gust of wind drove it into the middle 
of the great river; the Picard had gone with the gun into the 
prairie to try and kill a buffalo; so I quickly pulled off our 
habit, and threw it on the turtle with some stones to pre- 
vent its escaping, and swam after our canoe which went 
very fast down stream, as the current there was very strong. 
Having reached it with much difficulty, I durst not get in 
for fearing of upsetting it, so I either pushed it before me, 
or drew it after me, and so little by little reached the shore 
about one-eighth of a league from the place where I had the 
turtle. The Picard finding only our habit, and not seeing 
the canoe, naturally believed that some Indian had killed 
me. He retired to the prairie to look all around whether 
there were no people there. Meanwhile I remounted the 
river with all diligence in the canoe, and had just put on 
my habit, when I saw more than sixty buffalo crossing the 
river to reach the south side; I pursued the animals, calling 
the Picard with all my might; he ran up at the noise and had 
time to enter the canoe, while the dog which had jumped 
into the water had driven them into an island. Having 
given them chase here, they were crossing back when he 
shot one, which was so heavy that we could get it ashore 



I40 NARRATIVE OF FATHER HENNEPIN. 

only in pieces, being obliged to cut the best morsel, while 
the rest was in the water. As it was almost two days since 
we had eaten, we made a fire with the driftwood we found 
on the sand; and while the Picard was skinning the ani- 
mal, I cooked the morsels of the fat meat in our little 
earthen pot ; we then eat it so eagerly that we both fell sick, 
and had to stay two days in the island to recover. We 
could not take much of the meat, our canoe was so small, 
and besides the excessive heat spoiled it, so that we were 
all at once deprived of it, as it was full of worms ; and when 
we embarked in the morning, we did not know what we 
would eat during the day. Never have we more admired 
God's providence than during this voyage, for we did not 
always find deer, and could not kill them when we would; 
but the eagles, which are very common in these vast coun- 
tries, sometimes dropped from their claws bream, or large 
carp, which they were carrying to their nests. Another time 
we found an otter on the bank of the river Colbert eating 
a large fish, which had, running from the head, a kind of 
paddle or beak, five fingers broad and a foot and a half long, 
which made our Picard say, that he thought he saw a devil 
in the paws of that otter : but his fright did not prevent our 
eating the monstrous fish which we found very good. 

While seeking the Ouisconsin river, Aquipaguetin, that 
savage father, whom I had left, and whom I believed more 
than two hundred leagues off, suddenly appeared with ten 
warriors, on the nth of July, 1680. We believed that he 
was coming to kill us, because we had left him, with the 
knowledge, indeed, of the other Indians, but against his will. 
He first gave us some wild-rice, and a slice of buffalo-meat 
to eat, and asked whether we had found the Frenchmen 
who were to bring us goods; but not being satisfied with 
what we said, he started before us, and went to Ouisconsin 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. I4I 

to try and carry off what he could from the French; this 
savage found none there, and rejoined us three days after. 
The Picard had gone in the prairie to hunt, and I was alone 
in a little cabin on the bank of the river, which I had made 
to screen us from the sun, with a blanket that an Indian had 
given me back. Aquipaguetin seeing me alone came up, 
tomahawk in hand : I laid hold of two pocket-pistols, which 
the Picard had got back from the Indians, and a knife, not 
intending to kill my pretended Indian father, but only to 
frighten him, and prevent his crushing me, in case he had 
that intention. Aquipaguetin reprimanded me for exposing 
myself thus to the insults of their enemies, saying that I 
should at least take the shore to be more in safety. He 
wished to take me with him, telling me that he was with 
three hundred hunters, who killed more buffalo than those 
to whom I had abandoned myself. I would have done well 
to follow his advice, for the Picard and myself ascending 
the river almost eighty leagues way, ran great risk of per- 
ishing a thousand times. 

We had only ten charges of powder which we were 
obliged to divide into twenty to kill wild-pigeons, or turtle- 
doves; but when these at last gave out we had recourse to 
three hooks, which we baited with bits of putrid barbels 
dropped by an eagle. For two whole days we took nothing, 
and were thus destitute of all support when, during night 
prayer, as we were repeating these words addressed 
to St. Anthony of Padua, " Pereunt pericula, cessat et 
necessitas," the Picard heard a noise, left his prayers and 
ran to our hooks which he drew from the waters with two 
barbels so large that I had to go and help him. Without 
cleaning these monstrous fish we cut them in pieces, and 
roasted them on the coals, our only little earthen pot hav- 
ing been broken. Two hours after night, we were joined 



142 NARRATIVE OF FATHER HENNEPIN. 

by Mamenisi, the father of the little Indian girl that I had 
baptized before she died; he gave us plenty of meat. 

The next day the Indians whom we had left with Michael 
Ako, came down from Buffalo river with their flotilla of 
canoes loaded with meat. Aquipaguetin had, as he passed, 
told how exposed the Picard and I were on our voyage, and 
the Indian chiefs represented to us the cowardice of Michael 
Ako, who had refused to undertake it, for fear of dying by 
hunger. If I had not stopped him, the Picard would have 
insulted him. 

All the Indian women hid their stock of meat at the 
mouth of Buffalo river, and in the islands, and we again 
went down the Colbert about eighty leagues to hunt with 
this multitude of canoes; from time to time the Indians hid 
their canoes on the banks of the river and in the islands; 
then struck in to the prairies seven or eight leagues beyond 
the mountains, where they took, at different times, a hun- 
dred and twenty buffaloes. They always left some of their 
old men on the tops of the mountains to be on the lookout 
for their enemies. One day when I was dressing the foot 
of one who called himself my brother, and who had run a 
splinter deep into his foot,, an alarm was given in the camp, 
two hundred bowmen ran out; and that brave Indian, 
although I had just made a deep incision in the sole of his 
foot to draw out the wood, left me and ran even faster than 
the rest, not to be deprived of the glory of fighting, but in- 
stead of enemies, they found only a herd of about eighty 
stags, who took flight. The wounded man could scarcely 
regain the camp. During this alarm, all the Indian wo- 
men sang in a lugubrious tone. The Picard left me to join 
his host, and I remaining with one called Otchimbi, had to 
carry in the canoe an old Indian woman of over eighty. For 
all her great age, she threatened to strike with her paddle 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 143 

three children who troubled us in the middle of our canoe. 
The men treated me well enough, but as the meat was 
almost entirely at the disposal of the women, I was com- 
pelled, in order to get some, to make their children's ton- 
sures, about as large as those of our religious, for these 
little savages wear them to the age of fifteen or sixteen, 
and their parents make them with red hot stones. 

We had another alarm in our camp : the old men on duty 
on the top of the mountains announced that they saw two 
warriors in the distance; all the bowmen hastened there with 
speed, each trying to outstrip the others; but they brought 
back only two of their own women, who came to tell them 
that a party of their people were hunting at the extremity of 
Lake Conde (Superior), had found five spirits (so they call 
the French) ; who, by means of a slave, had expressed a 
wish to come on, knowing us to be among them, in order to 
find out whether we were English, Dutch, Spaniards or 
Frenchmen being unable to understand by what roundabout 
we had reached those tribes. 

On the 25th of July, 1680, as we were ascending the river 
Colbert after the buffalo-hunt, to the Indian villages we 
met the sieur de Luth, who came to the Nadouessious, with 
five French soldiers; they joined us about two hundred 
and twenty leagues distant from the country of the Indians 
who had taken us;* as we had some knowledge of their 
language, they begged us to accompany them to the villages 

* This would make his meeting with de Luth take place some time 
below the Illinois, according to his description of the river. In the 
English edition, doubtless, for good reasons, he says, one hundred and 
twenty which would bring it just below the Wisconsin. If de Luth 
came by way of Lake Superior, it is not easy to see how he met them 
so far down, or how after descending the Mississippi he needed the 
aid of Hennepin in ascending. This officer who figured considerably 
in the affairs of Canada, was captain in the marines, and was com- 
mander of Fort Frontenac, in 1696. 



144 NARRATIVE OF FATHER HENNEPIN. 

of those tribes, to which I readily agreed, knowing that 
these Frenchmen had not approached the sacraments for 
two years. The sieur de Luth, who acted as captain, seeing 
me tired of tonsuring the children, and bleeding asthmatic 
old men to get a mouthful of meat, told the Indians that I 
was his elder brother, so that, having my subsistence se- 
cured, I labored only for the salvation of these Indians. 

We arrived at the villages of the Issati on the 14th of 
August, 1680. I there found our chalice and books which 
I had hidden in the ground ; the tobacco which I had planted, 
had been choked by the weeds; the turnips, cabbages, and 
other vegetables were of extraordinary size. The Indians 
durst not eat them. During our stay, they invited us to a 
feast where there were more than a hundred and twenty men 
all naked. The first chief, a relative of the one whose body 
I had covered with a blanket, brought me a bark dish of food 
which he put on a buffalo-robe, dressed, whitened, and trim- 
med with porcupine quills on one side, and the curly wool 
on the other. He afterwards put it on my head, saying: 
" He whose body thou didst cover, covers thine; he has 
borne tidings of thee to the land of souls. Brave was thy 
act in his regard; all the nation praises thee for it. 5 ' He 
then reproached the sieur du Luth, for not having covered 
the deceased's body, as I did. He replied that he covered 
only those of captains like himself ; but the Indian answered, 
" Pere Louis is a greater captain than thou for his robe 
(meaning our brocade chasuble), which we have sent to< our 
allies, who dwell three moons from this country, is more 
beautiful than that which thou wearest." 

Toward the end of September, having no implements to 
begin an establishment, we resolved to tell these people, that 
for their benefit, we would have to return to the French set- 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. I45 

demerits.* The grand chief of the Issati, or Nadouessiouz, 
consented, and traced in pencil on a paper I gave him, the 
route we should take for four hundred leagues. With this 
chart, we set out, eight Frenchmen, in two canoes, and de- 
scended the rivers St. Francis and Colbert. Two of our 
men took two beaver-robes at St. Anthony of Padua's falls, 
which the Indians had hung in sacrifice on the trees. 

We stopped near Ouisconsin river to smoke some meat; 
three Indians coming from the nations we had left, told us 
that their great chief named Pierced-pine, having heard that 
one of the chiefs of the nation wished to pursue and kill 
us, had entered his cabin and tomahawked him, to prevent 
his pernicious design. We regaled these three Indians with 
meat, of which we were in no want then. 

Two days after, we perceived an army of one hundred 
and forty canoes, filled with about two hundred and fifty 
warriors ; we thought that those who brought the preceding 
news were spies, for instead of descending the river on 
leaving us, they ascended to tell their people; however, the 
chiefs of the little army visited us and treated us very kindly, 
and the same day descended the river as we did to the Ouis- 
consin. We found that river as wide as the S'eignelay (Il- 
linois), with a strong current. After sailing up sixty 
leagues, we came to a portage of half a league, which the 
Nadouessiouz chiefs had marked for us; we slept there to 
leave marks and crosses on the trunks of the trees. t The 
next day we entered a river which winds wonderfully, for 
after six hours sailing, we found ourselves opposite the place 
where we started. One of our men wishing to kill a swan 

* Here, a la Hennepin, de Luth is merged in the we. 

f This was the same route that Marquette took going down. See 
his description. The Kakalin rapid had been previously visited and 
explored by Allouez, and mentioned in the Rel., i66g-'yo. 



I46 NARRATIVE OF FATHER HENNEPIN. 

on the wing, capsized his canoe, fortunately not beyond his 
depth. 

We passed four lakes, two pretty large, on the banks of 
which the Miamis formerly resided, we found Maskoutens, 
Kikapous, and Outaougamy there, who sow Indian corn for 
their subsistence. All this country is as fine as that of the 
Islinois. 

We made a portage at a rapid called Kakalin, and after 
about four hundred leagues sail from our leaving the coun- 
try of the Issati, and Nadouessiouz, we arrived safely at the 
extremity of the bay of the Fetid, where we found French- 
men trading contrary to orders with the Indians. They 
had some little wine in a tin flagon which enabled me to 
say mass; I had then only a chalice and altar stone; but 
Providence supplied me with vestments, for some Islinois 
flying from the tyranny of the Iroquois, who had destroyed a 
part of their nation, took the vestments of the chapel of 
Father Zenobius Membre Recollect, who was with the Isli- 
nois in their flight. They gave me all they took, except the 
chalice, which they promised to give back in a few days 
for a present of tobacco. 

I had not celebrated mass for over nine months for want 
of wine; I had still some hosts. We remained two days to 
rest, sing the Te Deum, high mass, and preach. All our 
Frenchmen went to confession and communion, to thank 
God for having preserved us amid so many wanderings and 
perils. 

One of our Frenchmen gave a gun for a canoe larger than 
ours, with which, after sailing a hundred leagues, we 
reached Missilimaekinac, where we were obliged to winter. 
To employ the time usefully, I preached every holyday, and 
on the Sundays of Advent and Lent.* The Ottawas and 

* In the English edition he tells us that he enjoyed, during the winter, 
the hospitality of Father Pierson, a Jesuit and a fellow-townsmen of his 
own, whom he eulogizes there, but passes over in perfect silence here. 
What was his reason in each case? In neither he mentions the church 
at Green bay. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. I47 

Hurons were often present, rather from curiosity than from 
any inclination to live according to the Christian maxims. 
These last Indians said, speaking of our discovery, that they 
were men, but that we Frenchmen were spirits, because, 
had they gone so far, the strange nations would have killed 
them, while we went fearlessly everywhere. 

During the winter, we took whitefish in Lake Orleans 
(Huron) in twenty or twenty-two fathoms water. They 
served to season the Indian corn, which was our usual fare. 
Forty-two Frenchmen trading there with Indians begged 
me to give them all the cord of St. Francis, which I readily 
did, making an exhortation at each ceremony. 

We left Missilimackinac in Easter week, 1681, and were 
obliged to drag our provisions and canoes on the ice, more 
than ten leagues on Lake Orleans; having advanced far 
enough on this fresh-water sea, and the ice breaking, we em- 
barked after Low Sunday, which we celebrated, having some 
little wine which a Frenchman had fortunately brought, 
and which served us quite well the rest of the voyage. 
After a hundred leagues on Lake Orleans, we passed the 
strait (Detroit), for thirty leagues and Lake St. Clair,t 
which is in the middle and entered Lake Conty, where we 
killed, with sword and axe, more than thirty sturgeon which 
came to spawn on the banks of the lake. On the way we 
met an Ottawa chief called Talon, six persons of whose 
family had died of starvation, not having found a good fish- 
ery or hunting-ground. This Indian told us that the Iro- 
quois had carried off a family of twelve belonging to his 
tribe, and begged us to deliver them, if yet alive. 

t This name is commonly written St. Clair, but this is incorrect; we 
should either retain the French form Claire, or take the English Clare. 
It received its name in honor of the founder of the Franciscan nuns, 
from the fact that La Salle reached it on the day consecrated to her. 



I48 NARRATIVE OF FATHER HENNEPIN. 

We sailed along Lake Conty, and after a hundred and 
twenty leagues we passed the strait of the great falls of 
Niagara and Fort Conty, and entering Lake Frontenac, 
coasted along the southern shore. After thirty leagues from 
Lake Conty, we reached the great Seneca village about 
Whitsunday, 1681. We entered the Iroquois council and 
asked them, why they had enslaved twelve of our Ottawa 
allies, telling them that those whom: they had taken, 
were children of the governor of the French, as well as the 
Iroquois, and that by this violence, they declared war on the 
French. To induce them to restore our allies, we gave 
them two belts of wampum. 

The next day the Iroquois answered us by two belts, that 
the Ottawas had been carried off by some mad young war- 
riors ; that we might assure the governor of the French, that 
the Iroquois would hearken to him in all things; that they 
wished to live with Onontio like real children with their 
father (so they call the governor of Canada), and that they 
would restore those whom they had taken. 

A chief named Teganeot, who spoke for his whole nation 
in all the councils, made me a present of otter and beaver- 
skins, to the value of over twenty-five crowns. I took it 
with one hand, and gave it with the other to his son, telling 
him that I gave it to him to buy goods of the other French- 
men; that as for us, Barefeet, as the Iroquois called us, we 
would not take beaver or peltries; but that I would report 
their friendly feeling to the governor of the French. This 
Iroquois chief was surprised at my refusing his present, and 
told his own people that the other French did not do so. We 
took leave of the chief men, and after sailing forty leagues 
on the lake, reached Fort Frontenac, where the dear Recollect 
Father Luke was greatly surprised to see me, as for two years 
it had been reported that the Indians had hung me with our 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 149 

Franciscan cord. All the inhabitants, French and Indians, 
whom we had gathered at Fort Frontenac, welcomed me 
with extraordinary joy at my return; the Indians calling 
me Atkon, and putting their hand to their mouth, which 
means, Barefeet is a spirit to have travelled so far. At the 
mouth of Lake Frontenac the current is strong, and the 
more you descend the more it increases; the rapids are 
frightful. In two days and a half we descended the river 
St. Lawrence so rapidly that we reached Montreal (sixty 
miles from the fort), where the count de Frontenac, gov- 
ernor-general of all New France then was. This governor 
received me as well as a man of his probity can receive a 
missionary. As he believed me killed by the Indians, he was 
for a time thunderstruck believing me to be some other re- 
ligious. He beheld me wasted, without cloak, with a habit 
patched with pieces of buffalo-skin. He took me with him 
for twelve days to recover, and himself gave me the meat 
I was to eat, for fear I should fall sick by eating too much 
after so long a diet. I rendered him an exact account of my 
voyage, and represented to him the advantage of our dis- 
covery.* 

* Of course the English edition says nothing about this exact ac- 
count, nor tells how he concealed the truth and avoided questions. 



NARRATIVE 

OF THE ADVENTURES OF 

LA SALLE'S PARTY AT FORT CREVECGEUR, IN ILINOIS, 

FROM FEBRUARY, l68o, TO JUNE, l68l, BY 

FATHER ZENOBIUS MEMBRE, RECOLLECT* 



FATHER LOUIS (HENNEPIN) having set out on 
the 29th of February, 1680, the sieur de la Salle left 
the sieur de Tonty as commander of Fort Crevecceur with 
ammunitions, and provisions, and peltries, to pay the work- 

* If the projects of La Salle had raised up against him pertinacious 
enemies, they nevertheless drew around him a few faithful and devoted 
friends, and none more conspicuous than the excellent missionary whose 
journals we here insert. The amiable Father Membre is the name 
under which all seem to delight in presenting him to us, so much were 
they touched by his goodness of heart. Were it prudent to credit 
Hennepin's last work for anything new, we might say, that Membre 
was born at Bapaume, a small fortified town, now in France, but then 
in the Spanish Netherlands, and that he was a cousin of Father Chris- 
tian le Clercq, who published his journals in the " Etablissement de la 
Foi." It was probably on entering the Recollect convent in Artois, where 
he was the first novice in the new province of St. Anthony, that he 
assumed the name of Zenobius. With his cousin le Clercq, he was 
the first sent by that province to Canada where he arrived in 1675, 
from which time till that of his departure for Frontenac, in September, 
1678, he was probably employed at the convent of Quebec, as his name 
does not appear in any of the neighboring parish registers examined to 
obtain his autograph. From Fort Frontenac he accompanied La Salle 
to Niagara, Mackinaw, and, at last, to Fort Crevecceur, in Illinois. 
Here he was left by that commander with Tonty and Father Gabriel de 
la Rebourde, with whom on the inroad of the Iroquois and flight of the 
Illinois, he endeavored to reach Green Bay. Father Gabriel perished 

16 



152 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE. 

men as agreed, and merchandise to trade with and buy pro- 
visions as we needed them, and having lastly given orders 

on the way by the hand of the Kikapoos ; the survivors were hospitably 
received by the Jesuits at Green Bay, where they wintered, and in the 
spring proceeded to Mackinaw with Father Enjalran. Here La Salle 
soon joined them, and Membre, after a voyage to Fort Frontenac, and 
probably to Montreal, with that commander in the spring of 1681, de- 
scended the Mississippi with him to the gulf, and on their return pro- 
ceeded at his request to France in 1682, to lay before the government 
the result of the expedition. He left a journal of his voyage at Que- 
bec ; but, as he declined communicating it to the new governor, De 
la Barre, the latter, in his report to the home government, throws im- 
putations on any account of the missionary, which must, however, be 
ascribed only to bias and dissatisfaction. After fulfilling his mission at 
court, Father Membre became warden of the recollects at Bapaume, and 
remained so till he was appointed at La Salle's request, superior of the 
missionaries who were to accompany his expedition by sea. Father 
Membre reached Texas in safety, and though nearly drowned in the 
wreck of one of the vessels, was left by La Salle in good health at Fort 
St. Louis, in January, 1687, intending as soon as possible to begin a 
mission among the friendly Cenis, with Father Maximus le Clercq. 
The colony was, however, cut to pieces by the Indians, for, when in 
1689, a party of Spaniards set out to expel the French as intruders, 
all was silent as they drew near; to their horror they found on reach- 
ing it nothing but dead bodies within and without: priest and soldier, 
husband and wife, old and young, lay dead before them, pierced with 
arrows, or crushed with clubs ! Touched with compassion, the Spaniards 
committed their remains to a common grave, and retired. Here Father 
Membre perished, but earth has no record of the day. He was not, 
apparently, a man of refined education, nor is this a reproach, as his 
order was not intended to direct colleges and seats of learning, but to 
preach to the poor and lowly. But though his journal is often involved 
and obscure, it bears intrinsic marks of fidelity, and shows him to have 
been less prejudiced than many of his companions. Fitted rather for 
the quiet direction of a simple flock, his zeal could not bear up against 
the hardships and barrenness of an Indian mission for which no previous 
training or associations had fitted him, while his many wanderings tended 
still more to prevent his usefulness. His only permanent mission was 
in Illinois, where he labored assiduously with Father Gabriel from 
March to September, 1680, notwithstanding the repugnance which he 
felt for the ungrateful field. They are, accordingly, after the Jesuits, 
Marquette, and Allouez, the first missionaries of Illinois, and worthy 
of a distinguished place in her annals, and of the noble eulogy of Mr. 
Sparks, on the missionaries of New France. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 53 

as to what was to be done in his absence, set out with four 
Frenchmen and an Indian on the 2d of March, 1680. He 
arrived on the nth at the great Ilinois village where I then 
was, and thence, after twenty-four hours' stay, he con- 
tinued his route on foot over the ice to Fort Frontenac. 
From our arrival at Fort Crevecceur on the 14th of January 
past, Father Gabriel, our superior, Father Louis, and my- 
self, had raised a cabin in which we had established some 
little regularity, exercising our functions as missionaries to 
the French of our party, and the Ilinois Indians who came 
in crowds. As by the end of February I already knew a part 
of their language, because I spent the whole of the day in the 
Indian camp, which was but half a league off, our father su- 
perior appointed me to follow when they were about to re- 
turn to their village. A chief named Oumahouha had 
adopted me as his son in the Indian fashion and M. de la 
Salle had made him presents to take care of me. Father Ga- 
briel resolved to stay at the fort with the sieur de Tonty 
and the workmen; this had been, too, the request of the sieur 
de la Salle who hoped that by his credit and the apparent 
confidence of the people in him, he would be able to keep 
them in order, but God permitted that the good intentions 
in which the sieur de la Salle thought he left them, should 
not last long. On the thirteenth, he himself had met two of 
his men whom he had sent to Missilmakinac to meet his 
vessel, but who had got no tidings of it. He addressed them 
to the sieur de Tonty; but these evil disposed men caballed 
so well, that they excited suspicion and dissatisfaction in 
most of those there, so that almost all deserted, carrying off 
the ammunition, provisions, and all that was in the store. 
Two of them who were conducting Father Gabriel to the 
Ilinois village where M. de Tonty had come on a visit, aban- 
doned the good father at night in the middle of the road, and 



154 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE. 

spiked the guns of the sieur de Boisrondet, and the man 
called Lesperance, who were in the same canoe, but not in 
their plot. They informed the sieur de Tonty who, finding 
himself destitute of everything, sent four of those who re- 
mained by two different routes to inform the sieur de la 
Salle. 

The perfidious wretches assembled at the fort which the 
sieur de la Salle had built at the mouth of the Myamis' river, 
demolished the fort, carried off all that was there, and as we 
learned some months after, went to Missilimakinac, where 
they seized the peltries belonging to the sieur de la Salle, 
and left in store there by him. 

The only great Ilinois village being composed of seven or 
eight thousand souls, Father Gabriel and I had a sufficient 
field for the exercise of our zeal, besides the few French who 
soon after came there. There are, moreover the Miamis sit- 
uated southeast by south of the bottom of Lake Dauphin, on 
the borders of a pretty fine river, about fifteeen leagues in- 
land at 41 0 N.; the nation of the Maskoutens and Outa- 
gamies, who dwell at about 43 0 N., on the banks of the river 
called Melleoki (Milwauki), which empties into Lake 
Dauphin, very near their village; on the western side the 
Kikapous and the Ainoves (Iowas), who form two 1 villages; 
west of these last, above the river Checagoumemant, the 
village of the Ilinois Cascaschia, situated west of the bot- 
tom of Lake Dauphin, a little southwest at about 41 0 N.; 
the Anthoutantas* and Maskoutens, Nadouessions, about 
one hundred and thirty leagues from the Ilinois, in three 
great villages built near a river which empties into the 
river Colbert on the west side, above that of the Ilinois, 
almost opposite the mouth of the Miskoncing in the same 
river. I might name here a number of other tribes, with 
* The Otontantas of Marquette's real map. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 55 

whom we had intercourse, and to whom French coureurs- 
de-bois, or lawfully sent, rambled while I was with the Ili- 
nois, under favor of our discovery. 

The greater part of these tribes, and especially the Ilinois, 
with whom I have had intercourse, make their cabins of 
double mats of flat rushes sewed together. They are tall of 
stature, strong, and robust, and good archers; they had as 
yet, no firearms; we gave them some. They are, wandering, 
idle, fearful, and desolate, almost without respect for their 
chiefs, irritable, and thievish. Their villages are not en- 
closed with palisades, and being too cowardly to defend 
them, they take to flight at the first news of a hostile army. 
The richness and fertility of the country gives them fields 
everywhere. They have used iron implements and arms 
only since our arrival. Besides the bow, they use in war a 
kind of short pike, and wooden maces.* Hermaphrodites 
are numerous. They have many wives, and often take sev- 
eral sisters that they may agree better; and yet they are 
so jealous that they cut off their noses on the slightest sus- 
picion. They are lewd, and even unnaturally so, having 
boys dressed as women, destined for infamous purposes. 
These boys are employed only in women's work, without 
taking part in the chase or war. They are very superstitious, 
although they have no religious worship. They are, be- 
sides, much given to play, like all the Indians in America, 
that I am able to know.f 

* All agree in the great skill of the Illinois bowmen, and even as late 
as 1692-3, when Rale was with them, they had not yet begun to use guns. 

t Neither Marquette nor Allouez first, nor Membre and Douay, after- 
ward, allude to the mode of burial among the Illinois, which is stated 
by F. Rale, and deserves to be mentioned. " Their custom," says he, 
" is not to bury the dead, but to wrap them in skins, and to attach them 
by the head and feet to the tops of trees." See his letter in Kip's 
Jesuit Missions, p. 38. The use made of this trait by the French poets 
is familiar to the readers of Delille. On the whole however, the various 



I56 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE. 

As there are in their country many serpents, these Indians 
know herbs much superior to our orvietan and theriaque, 
for after rubbing themselves with them, they can without 
fear play with the most venomous insects, and even put them 
some distance down their throat. They go perfectly naked 
in summer except the feet, which are covered with shoes of 
oxhide, and in winter they protect themselves against the 
cold (which is piercing in these parts though of short dura- 
tion) with skins which they dress and card very neatly. 

Although we were almost destitute of succor, yet the sieur 
de Tonty never lost courage; he kept up his position among 
the Ilinois either by inspiring them all the hopes which he 
built on the sieur de la Salle's return, or by instructing them 
in the use of firearms, and many arts in the European way. 
As during the following summer a rumor ran that the 
Myamis wished to move and join the Iroquois, he taught 
them how to defend themselves by palisades, and even made 
them erect a kind of little fort with intrenchments, so that, 
had they had a little more courage, I have no doubt they 
would have been in a position to sustain themselves. 

Meanwhile, from the flight and desertion of our men 
about the middle of March to the month of September, 
Father Gabriel and I devoted ourselves constantly to the 
mission. An Ilinois named Asapista, with whom the sieur 
de la Salle had contracted friendship, adopted Father Ga- 
briel as his son, so that that good father found in his cabin 
a subsistence in the Indian fashion. As wine failed us for 
the celebration of the divine mysteries, we found means, 
toward the close of August, to get wild grapes which began 

descriptions of the Illinois and their country by Marquette, Allouez, 
Membre, Hennepin, Douay, Ioutel Tonty, Rale, and Marest, are re- 
markably alike : all but those of the two last are contained in the present 
series of Hist. Collections, and these will be found in the translation of 
Mr. Kip, already cited. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 57 

to ripen, and we made very good wine which served us to 
say mass till the second disaster, which happened a few days 
after. The cluster of these grapes are of prodigious size, 
of very agreeable taste, and have seeds larger than those of 
Europe.* 

With regard to conversions, I can not rely on any. Dur- 
ing the whole time Father Gabriel unraveled their language 
a little, and I can say that I spoke so as to make myself un- 
derstood by the Indians on all that I wished; but there is 
in these savages such an alienation from the faith, so* brutal 
and narrow a mind, such corrupt and antichristian morals, 
that great time would be needed to hope for any fruit. It is, 
however, true that I found many of quite docile character. 
We baptized some dying children, and two or three dying 
persons who manifested proper dispositions. As these peo- 
ple are entirely material in their ideas, they would have 
submitted to baptism, had we liked, but without any knowl- 
edge of the sacrament. We found two who had joined us, 
and promised to follow us everywhere; we believed that 
they would keep their word, and that by this means we 
would insure their baptisms; but I afterward felt great 
scruples when I learned that an Indian named Chassagou- 
ache, who had been baptized, had died in the hands of the 
medicine-men, abandoned to their superstitions, and conse- 
quently doubly a child of hell. 

During the summer, we followed our Indians in their 
camps, and to the chase. I also made a voyage to the My- 

* In Brown's History of American Trees, we fail to find any notice 
of the early wine-making in the country by the catholic missionaries. 
They were certainly the first in the northern parts. Sagard, in his 
History of Canada (ch. 9), details the modus operandi of probably the 
first wine-making in the country. The Jesuit missionaries were after- 
ward frequently compelled to do so, in order to say mass, as we find 
repeated allusions to it in the Relations from Maine to the Mississippi. 



I58 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE. 

amis to learn something of their dispositions ; thence I went 
to visit other villages of the Ilinois all, however, with no 
great success, finding only cause for chagrin at the deplor- 
able state and blindness of these nations. It is such that I 
can not express it fully. 

Thus far we enjoyed a pretty general peace, though mean- 
while, a cruel war, which we knew not, was machinating. 
While we were still at Fort Frontenac, the year before the 
sieur de la Salle learned that his enemies had, to baffle his 
designs, excited the Iroquois to resume their former hostili- 
ties against the Ilinois, which had been relinquished for sev- 
eral years. They sought too to draw the Myamis into the 
same war. This is a tribe which formerly dwelt beyond the 
Ilinois, as regards the Iroquois and Fort Frontenac. They 
had persuaded them to invite the Iroquois by an embassy 
to join them against their common enemy; those who came 
to treat of this affair with the Iroquois, brought letters from 
some ill-disposed Frenchmen who had correspondents in 
those tribes, for there were at that time many coureurs de 
bois. 

The sieur de la Salle happened to be among the Senecas 
when this embassy .arrived; the moment seemed unfavor- 
able, and the embassadors were privately warned that they 
risked their lives, if they did not depart as soon as possible, 
the sieur de la Salle being a friend of the Ilinois. The My- 
amis, however, left his former country, and came and took 
up a position where he is now between the Iroquois and the 
Ilinois. This was afterwards believed intentional, and we 
having to pass through both these nations suspected by each 
other, might become so to one of them who would then pre- 
vent our progress. Monsieur de la Salle, on his arrival at 
the Ilinois last year, made peace between the two nations; 
but as the Indians are very inconstant and faithless, the Iro- 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 59 

quois and the Myamis afterward united against the Ilinois, 
by means which are differently related. 

Be that as it may, about the ioth of September, in the 
present year, 1680, the Ilinois allies of Chaouenons (Shaw- 
nees), were warned by a Shawnee, who was returning 
home from an Ilinois voyage, but turned back to advise 
them, that he had discovered an Iroquois army, four or five 
hundred strong, who had already entered their territory. 
The scouts sent out by the Ilinois confirmed what the Shaw- 
nee had said, adding that the sieur de la Salle was there. 
For this there was no foundation, except that the Iroquois 
chief had a hat and a kind of vest. They at once talked of 
tomahawking us, but the sieur de Tonty undeceived them, 
and to show the falsity of the report, offered to 
go with the few men he had to fight the Iroquois 
with them. The Ilinois had already sent out to war 
the greater part of the young men, yet the next day they 
took the field against the enemy, whom the Myamis had 
reinforced with a great number of their warriors. This 
multitude terrified the Ilinois; nevertheless, they recovered 
a little at the solicitation of the sieur de Tonty and the 
French; they at first mingled and wrangled, but the sieur de 
Tonty having grounds to fear for the Ilinois who had 
almost no firearms, offered to put matters in negotiation, 
and to go to the Iroquois as a man of peace, bearing the calu- 
met. The latter hoping to surprise the Ilinois, and seeing 
hopes baffled by the state in which they found them resolved 
for battle, received without any demur a man who came with 
a calumet of peace, telling them, that the Ilinois were his 
brothers, friends of the French, and under the protection of 
Ononto, their common father. I was beside the sieur de 
Tonty, when an Iroquois, whom I had known in the Seneca 
village recognized me. These proposals for peace did not, 



l60 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE. 

however, please some young men whose hands itched for 
fight; suddenly a volley of balls and arrows came whizzing 
around us, and a young Onondaga ran up with a drawn 
knife and struck 'M. de Tonty near the heart, the knife for- 
tunately glancing off a rib. They immediately surrounded 
him, and wished to carry him off; but when, by his ears, 
which were not pierced, they saw that he was a Frenchman, 
one of the Iroquois chiefs asked loudly, what they had meant 
by striking a Frenchman in that way? that he must be 
spared, and drew forth a belt of wampum to stanch the 
blood, and make a plaster for the wound. Nevertheless a 
mad young Iroquois having hoisted the sieur de Tonty's 
hat on a gun to intimidate the Ilinois, the latter believing 
by this sign that Tonty was dead, we were all in danger of 
losing our heads; but the Iroquois having told us to show 
ourselves and stop both armies, we did so. The Iroquois re- 
ceived the calumet and pretended to retire; but scarcely had 
the Ilinois reached his village, when the Iroquois appeared 
on the opposite hills. 

This movement obliged the sieur de Tonty and the chiefs 
of the nation to depute me to these savages to know their 
reason. This was not a very agreeable mission to a savage 
tribe, with arms in their hands, especially after the risk I 
had already run ; nevertheless, I made up my mind, and God 
preserved me from all harm. I spoke with them; they 
treated me very kindly, and at last told me, that the reason 
of their approach was, that they had nothing to eat. I made 
my report to the Ilinois, who gave them their fill, and even 
offered to trade for beaver and other furs, very abundant in 
those parts. The Iroquois agreed, hostages were given and 
received, and I went with an Ilinois to the enemy's camp, 
where we slept. The Iroquois came in greater numbers into 
that of the Ilinois, and even advanced to their village, com- 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. l6l 



miting hostilities so far as to disinter the dead, and destroy 
their corn; in a word seeking a quarrel, under show of 
peace, they fortified themselves in the village. The Ilinois, 
on the first announcement of war, had made their families 
draw off behind a hill, to put them out of sight, and enable 
them to reach the Mississippi, so that the Iroquois found 
the village empty. The Ilinois warriors retired in troops on 
the hills, and even gradually dispersed, so that we seeing 
ourselves abandoned by our hosts, who no longer appeared 
in force, and left alone exposed to the fury of a savage and 
victorious enemy, were not long in resolving to retreat. 
The reverend father Gabriel, the sieur de Tonty, the few 
French who were with us, and myself, began our march on 
the 1 8th of September, without provisions, food, or any- 
thing, in a wretched bark canoe, which breaking the next 
day, compelled us to land about noon to repair it. Father 
Gabriel seeing the place of our landing fit for walking in 
the prairies and hills with little groves, as if planted by hand, 
retired there to say his breviary while we were working at 
the canoe all the rest of the day. We were full eight leagues 
from the village ascending the river. Toward evening I 
went to look for the father seeing that he did not return; all 
our party did the same; we fired repeatedly, to direct him, 
but in vain; and as we had reason to fear the Iroquois dur- 
ing the night, we crossed to the other side of the river and 
lit up fires which were also useless. The next morning at 
daybreak, we returned to the same side where we were the 
day before, and remained till noon, making all possible 
search. We entered the wood, where we found several fresh 
trails, as well as in the prairie on the bank of the river. 
We followed them one by one without discovering any- 
thing, except that M. de Tonty had ground to believe and 
fear that some hostile parties were in ambush to cut us 



l62 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE. 

all off, for seeing us take flight, the savages had imagined 
that we declared for the Ilinois. I insisted on staying to 
wait for positive tidings; but the sieur de Tonty forced me 
to embark at three o'clock, maintaining that the father had 
been killed by the enemy, or else had walked on along the 
bank, so that following it constantly, we should at last 
infallibly meet him. We got, however, no tidings of him, 
and the more we advanced, the more this affliction unmanned 
us, and we supported this remnant of a languishing life by 
the potatoes and garlick, and other roots, that we found by 
scraping the ground with our fingers. 

We afterward learned that we should have expected him 
uselessly, as he had been killed soon after landing. The 
Kikapous, a little nation you may observe on the west, quite 
near the Winnebagoes, had sent some of their youth in war- 
parties against the Iroquois, but learning that the latter 
were attacking the Ilinois, the war-party came after them. 
Three braves who formed a kind of advanced guard having 
met the good father alone, although they knew that he was 
not an Iroquois, killed him for all that, cast his body into 
a hole, and carried off even his breviary, and diurnal, which 
soon after came to the hands of a Jesuit father. They car- 
ried off the scalp of this holy man, and vaunted of it in their 
village as an Iroquois scalp. Thus died this man of God 
by the hands of some mad youths. We can say of his body 
what the Scripture remarks of those whom the sanguinary 
Herod immolated to his fury, " Non erat qui sepileret." 
Surely he deserved a better fate, if, indeed, we can desire a 
happier one before God, than to die in the exercise of the 
apostolic functions, by the hands of nations to whom we are 
sent by God. He had not been merely a religious of common 
and ordinary virtue ; it is well known that he had in Canada, 
from 1670, maintained the same sanctity of life which he 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 63 

had shown in France as superior, inferior, and master of 
novices. He had for a long time in transports of fervor 
acknowledged to me the profound grief which he felt at the 
utter blindness of these people, and that he longed to be an 
anathema for their salvation. His death, I doubt not, has 
been precious before God, and will one day have its effect 
in the vocation of these people to the faith, when it shall 
please the Almighty to use his great mercy.* 

We must admit that this good old man, quite extenuated 
like ourselves by want of everything, would not have been 
able to support the hardships we had to go through after 
that. The sieur de Tonty and de Boisrondet, and two other 
Frenchmen with myself, had still eighty leagues to make to 
the Pottawatamis. Our canoe often failed us, and leaked On 
all sides. After some days we had to leave it in the woods, 
and make the rest of our journey by land, walking bare- 

* Of this estimable missionary, we know little but what was given 
in Hennepin. He was, we are assured, the last scion of a noble Bur- 
gundian house, who not only renounced his inheritance and the world, 
to enrol himself among the lowly children of St. Francis, but even 
when advanced in life, and honored with the first dignities of his order, 
sought the new and toilsome mission of Canada. He came out among 
the first Recollect fathers in the summer of 1670; and, on the return of 
the provincial, F. Allart to France, became commissary and first superior 
of the mission, as well as confessor to Frontenac. He restored such 
missions as circumstances enabled him to begin, and guided his little 
flock with such moderation and skill in the troublous times on which he 
had fallen that he acquired the veneration and respect of all parties. 
His moderation was not, indeed, liked by all, and a few years after, 
F. Eustace Maupassant was sent out to succeed him, and the venerable 
Ribourde was sent as missionary to Fort Frontenac, but not before he 
had witnessed the consecration of their church at Quebec. He was 
subsequently joined by Buisset and Hennepin, and consulting his zeal 
rather than his age, embarked with La Salle. The date of his death 
is September 9, 1680 ; he was then in the seventieth year of his age, and 
had spent more than forty in the religious state, and, as master of 
novices, trained many to imitate his zeal and virtues. " This holy re- 
ligious," with Membre, who was to perish in the same unknown way, 
are among the earliest missionaries of Illinois. 



164 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE. 

footed over the snow and ice. I made shoes for my compan- 
ions and myself, of Father Gabriel's cloak. As we had no 
compass, we frequently got lost, and found ourselves in the 
evening where we had started in the morning, with no 
other food than acorns and little roots. At last, after fifteen 
days' march, we killed a deer, which was a great help to us. 
The sieur de Boisrondet lost us, and for at least ten days, 
we thought him dead. As he had a tin cup, he melted it to 
make balls for his gun, which had no flint. By firing it with 
a coal, he killed some turkeys, on which he lived during 
that time; at last we fortunately met at the Pottawatami vil- 
lage, where their chief, Onanghisse, quite well known among 
those nations, welcomed us most cordially. He used to 
say, that he knew only three great captains, M. de Front enac, 
M. de la Salle, and himself. This chief harangued all his 
people who contributed to furnish us food. Not one of us 
could stand for weakness; we were like skeletons, the sieur 
de Tonty extremely sick, but being a little recruited, I found 
some Indians going to the bay of the Fetid, where the 
Jesuits have a house.* I accordingly set out for it, and 
can not express the hardships I had to undergo on the way. 
The sieur de Tonty followed us soon after with the rest. 
We can not sufficiently acknowledge the charity these good 
fathers displayed toward us until the thaws began, when 

* This is more frank than Hennepin, who in his first edition men- 
tions neither those at Green Bay, nor those at Mackinaw, and would 
have us believe that he was the only missionary to be found in these 
parts. In his last edition he acknowledges that he met his countryman, 
Father Pierson, at Mackinaw. He must have passed Green Bay a 
few days before the arrival of Membre, which was about October 22, 
as Tonty seems to say (vol. i., p. 59), and Hennepin started for Green 
Bay by the Wisconsin, in the close of September. They failed to meet 
at Mackinaw, also, for Hennepin left it at Easter, and Membre reached 
only on the octave of Corpus Christi. This will account for the silence 
of both as to each other. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 165 

we set out with Father Enjalran in a canoe for Missilimak- 
inac, hoping to find news there from Canada. 

From the Ilinois, we had always followed the route by 
the north, had God permitted us to take that by the south of 
Lake Dauphin, we should have met the sieur de la Salle who 
was coming with well-furnished canoes from Fort Frontenac, 
and had gone by the south to the Ilinois, where he expected 
to find us with all his people in good order as he had left us, 
when he started in the preceding year (March 2d. 1680). 

This he told us himself when he arrived at Missilimakinac, 
about the middle of June, when he found us a little restored 
from our sufferings. I leave you to conceive our mutual joy, 
damped, though it was, by the narrative he made us of all 
his misfortunes, and by that we made him of our tragical 
adventures. He told us, that after our departure from Fort 
Frontenac, they had excited his creditors before the time to 
seize his property and all his effects, on a rumor which had 
been spread, that he had been drowned with all his people. 
He told us that his ship, the Griffin, had perished in the 
lakes a few days after leaving the bay of the Fetid; that 
the captains, sailors, and more than ten thousand crowns in 
merchandise, had been lost and never heard of. He had 
sent little fleets of canoes to trade right and left on Lake 
Frontenac; but these wretches, he told us, had profited by 
the principal and the trade, without his being able to obtain 
any justice from those who should have rendered it, not- 
withstanding all the efforts made by M. de Frontenac, the 
governor in his favor; that to complete his misfortunes, a 
vessel coming from France with a cargo for his account, 
amounting to twenty-two thousand livres, had been wrecked 
on St. Peter's islands in the gulf of St. Lawrence ; that canoes 
ascending from Montreal to Fort Frontenac loaded with 
goods, had been lost in the rapids; in a word, that except 



1 66 NARRATIVE ,0F FATHER MEMBRE. 

the count de Frontenac, all Canada seemed in league against 
his undertaking; the men he had brought from France had 
been seduced from him, some had run off with his goods to 
New York, and as regarded the Canadians who had joined 
him, means had been found to work upon them, and draw 
them from his interests. 

Although he had left Fort Frontenac in his bark on the 
23d of July, 1680, he was detained on the lake by head 
winds so that he could not reach the straits of lake de Conty 
till the close of August. All seemed to oppose his under- 
taking; embarking in the beginning of September, on Lake 
de Conty, he had been detained with M. de la Forrest, his 
lieutenant and all his men, at Missilimakinac, being unable 
to obtain corn for goods or money; but at last, as it was ab- 
solutely necessary, he was obliged, after three weeks' stay, 
to buy some for liquor, and in one day he got sixty sacks. 

He left there the 4th of October, and on the 28th of No- 
vember, reached the Myamis' river, where he left a ship-car- 
penter and some of his people; then pushing on, reached the 
Ilinois on the first of December. There he was greatly sur- 
prised to find their great village burnt and empty. The rest 
of the time was spent in a journey to the Myamis' river, 
where he went to join his men forty leagues from the Ilinois. 
Thence he passed to different tribes, among others to an 
Outagamis village, where he found some Ilinois, who re- 
lated to him the unhappy occurrences of the preceding year. 

He learned, moreover, that after our flight and departure, 
from the Ilinois, their warriors had returned from the Na- 
douessiouz, where they had been at war, and that there had 
been several engagements with equal loss on both sides, and 
that, at last, of the seventeen Ilinois villages, the greater 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 67 

part had retired beyond the river Colbert, among the Ozages, 
two hundred leagues from their country, where too a part 
of the Iroquois had pursued them. 

At the same time the sieur de la Salle intrigued with the 
Outagami chiefs, whom he drew into' his interests and those 
of the Ilinois; thence he passed to the Myamis, whom he 
induced by presents and arguments to leave the Iroquois and 
join the Ilinois; he sent two of his men and two Abenaquis 
to announce this to the Ilinois, and prevent new acts of hos- 
tility, and to recall the dispersed tribes. To strengthen both 
more, he sent others with presents to the Shawnees to invite 
them to come and join the Ilinois against the Iroquois, who 
carried their wars even to them. All this had succeeded 
when M. de la Salle left on the 22d of May, 1681, to return 
to Missilimakinac, where he expected to find us. If we 
wish to settle in these parts, and see the faith make any prog- 
ress, it is absolutely necessary to maintain peace and union 
among all these tribes, as well as among others more remote, 
against the common enemy, that is the Iroquois, who never 
makes a real peace with any whom he has once beaten, or 
whom he hopes to overcome by the divisions which he art- 
fully excites, so that we should be daily exposed to routs 
like that of which we were subjected last year. M. de la 
Salle convinced of this necessity, has since our return, pur- 
chased the whole Ilinois country,* and has given cantons to 
the Shawnees, who there colonize in large families. 

The sieur de la Salle related to us all his hardships and 
voyages, as well as all his misfortunes, and learned from us 
as many regarding him; yet never did I remark in him the 
least alteration, always maintaining his ordinary coolness 
and self-possession. Any one but him would have renounced 
and abandoned the enterprise; but far from that, by a firm- 

* See his second patent in the Appendix. 

17 



1 68 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE. 

ness of mind, and an almost unequalled constancy, I saw 
him more resolute than ever to continue his work, and to 
carry out his discovery. We accordingly left for Fort 
Frontenac, with his whole party to adopt new measures to 
resume and complete our course with the help of Heaven, 
in which we put all our trust. 



NAEEATIYE 

OF 

LA SALLE'S VOYAGE DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI, 
BY 

FAIRER ZENOBIUS MEMBRE, RECOLLECT. 



MLA SALLE having arrived safely at the Miamies on 
• the 3d of November, 1681, began with his ordinary- 
activity and vast mind, to make all preparations for his de- 
parture. He selected twenty-three Frenchmen, and eighteen 
Mohegans and Abnakis,* all inured to war. The latter in- 

* The Mohegans, whose name is generally translated by old French 
writers, who call them " Loups," or " Wolves," were hereditary enemies 
of the Iroquois. They were known to the French as early as the time 
of Champlain, who calls them " Mayganathicoise." It is needless here 
to follow the varieties in orthography which it underwent. The Iro- 
quois called them " Agotsagenens " (F. Jogues' MS.). Their relations 
with their European neighbors seem always to have been friendly, and 
they never apparently warred on either English, Dutch, or French, al- 
though their position between the Hudson and Connecticut exposed 
them to frequent occasions of trouble. Though never really the allies 
of the French, the hostility of the Iroquois to both brought them in 
contact, so that Mohegans frequently figure in small parties in French 
campaigns. 

The Abnakis were a people of Maine, and like the Mohegans of the 
Algonquin family. They were originally allies of the English, who 
called them " Taranteens," but the unwise policy of the New England 
colonies compelled them to join the French. Their conversion to the 
catholic religion, which they still profess, tended still more to embitter 
the colonies against them, and long and bloody wars resulted, in which 
the Abnakis, forsaken by the French, were at last humbled. They 
now form about five villages in Maine and Canada. 



170 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE. 

sisted on taking along ten of their women to cook for them, 
as their custom is, while they were fishing or hunting. These 
women had three children, so that the whole party consisted 
of but fifty-four persons, including the sieur de Tonty and 
the sieur Dautray, son of the late sieur Bourdon, procurator- 
general of Quebec. 

On the 2 1 st of December, I embarked with the sieur de 
Tonty and a part of our people on Lake Dauphin (Michi- 
gan), to go toward the divine river, called by the Indians 
Checagou, in order to make necessary arrangements for our 
voyage. The sieur de la Salle joined us there with the rest 
of his troop on the 4th of January, 1682, and found that 
Tonty had had sleighs made to put all on and carry it over 
the Chicago which was frozen; for though the winter in 
these parts is only two months long, it is notwithstanding 
very severe. 

We had to make a portage to enter the Ilinois river, which 
we found also frozen; we made it on the 27th of the same 
month, and dragging our canoes, baggage, and provisions, 
about eighty leagues on the river Seignelay (Ilinois), which 
runs into the river Colbert (Mississippi), we traversed the 
great Ilinois town without finding any one there, the Indians 
having gone to winter thirty leagues lower down on Lake 
Pimiteoui (Peoria), where Fort Creveeceur stands. We 
found it in a good state, and La Salle left his orders here. 
As from this spot navigation is open at all seasons, and free 
from ice, we embarked in our canoes, and on the 6th of Feb- 
ruary, reached the mouth of the river Seignelay, at 38 0 
north. The floating ice on the river Colbert, at this place, 
kept us till the 13th of the same month, when we set out, and 
six leagues lower down, found the Ozage (Missouri) river, 
coming from the west. It is full as large as the river Colbert 
into which it empties troubling it so, that from the mouth of 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 171 

the Ozage the water is hardly drinkable. The Indians as- 
sure us that this river is formed by many others, and that 
they ascend it for ten or twelve days to a mountain where it 
rises; that beyond this mountain is the sea where they see 
great ships; that on the river are a great number of large 
villages, of many different nations ; that there are arable and 
prairie-lands, and abundance of cattle and beaver. Although 
this river is very large, the Colbert does not seem augmented 
by it; but it pours in so much mud, that from its mouth the 
water of the great river, whose bed is also slimy, is more 
like clear mud than river water, without changing at all till 
it reaches the sea, a distance of more than three hundred 
leagues, although it receives seven large rivers, the water 
of which is very beautiful, and which are almost as large as 
the Mississippi. 

On the 14th, six leagues further, we found on the east 
the village of the Tamaroas,* who had gone to the chase; we 
left there marks of our peaceful coming, and signs of our 
route, according to practice, in such voyages. We went 
slowly, because we were obliged to hunt and fish almost 
daily, not having been able to bring any provisions but In- 
dian corn. 

Forty leagues from Tamaroa is the river Ouabache 
(Ohio), where we stopped. From the mouth of this river 
you must advance forty-two leagues without stopping, be- 
cause the banks are low and marshy, and full of thick foam, 
rushes and walnut trees. 

On the 24th, those whom we sent to hunt all returned bur 
Peter Prudhomme; the rest reported that they had seen an 

* The Tamaroas or Maroas were an Illinois tribe, who long had their 
village in this quarter. After their conversion to Christianity, they and 
the Cahokias were under the spiritual guidance of the priests of the 
Seminary of Foreign Missions. At this period no missionary had 
reached them. 



172 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE. 

Indian trail, which made us suppose our Frenchman killed 
or taken. This induced the sieur de la Salle to throw up a 
fort and intrenchment, and to put some French and In- 
dians on the trail. None relaxed their efforts till the first of 
March, when Gabriel Minime and two Mohegans took two 
of five Indians whom they discovered. They said, that they 
belonged to the Sicacha (Chickasaw) nation, and that their 
village was a day and a half off. After showing them every 
kindness, I set out with the sieur de la Salle and half our 
party to go there, in hopes of learning some news of Prud- 
homme; but after having travelled the distance stated, we 
showed the Indians that we were displeased with their du- 
plicity; they then told us frankly, that we were still three 
days off. (These Indians generally count ten or twelve 
leagues to a day.) We returned to the camp, and one of the 
Indians having offered to remain while the other carried the 
news to the village, La Salle gave him some goods, and he 
set out after giving us to understand that we should meet 
their nation on the bank of the river as we descended. 

At last Prudhomme, who had been lost, was found on the 
ninth day, and brought back to the fort, so that we set out 
the next day, which was foggy. Having sailed forty leagues 
till the third of March, we heard drums beating and sasa- 
coiiest (war cries) on our right. Perceiving that it was an 
Akansa village, the sieur de la Salle immediately passed 
over to the other side with all his force, and in less than an 
hour threw up a retrenched redoubt on a point, with pali- 
sades, and felled trees to prevent a surprise, and give the 
Indians time to recover confidence. He then made some of 
his party advance on the bank of the river, and invite the 
Indians to come to us. The chiefs sent out a periagua (these 
are large wooden canoes, made of a hollow tree like little 
batteaux), which came within gun-shot. We offered them 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 73 

the calumet of peace, and two Indians advancing, by signs 
invited the French to come to them. On this the sieur de la 
Salle sent a Frenchman and two Abnakis, who were received 
and regaled with many tokens of friendship. Six of the 
principal men brought him back in the same periagua, and 
came into the redoubt where the sieur de la Salle made them 
presents of tobacco and some goods. On their side they 
gave us some slaves, and the most important chief invited 
us to go to the village to refresh ourselves, which we readily 
did. 

All those of the village, except the women, who had at 
first taken flight, came to the bank of the river to receive us. 
Here they built us cabins, brought us wood to burn, and pro- 
visions in abundance. For three days they feasted us con- 
stantly; the women now returned, brought us Indian corn, 
beans, flour, and various kinds of fruits; and we, in return, 
made them other little presents, which they admired greatly. 

These Indians do not resemble those at the north, who are 
all sad and severe in their temper; these are far better made, 
honest, liberal, and gay. Even the young are so modest, 
that though they had a great desire to see La Salle, they 
kept quietly at the doors not daring to come in. 

We saw great numbers of domestic fowls, flocks of tur- 
keys, tame bustards, many kinds of fruits, peaches already 
formed on the trees, although it was only the beginning of 
March. 

On the 14th of the same month, the sieur de la Salle took 
possession of this country with great ceremony. He planted 
a cross, and set up the king's arms, at which the Indians 
showed a great joy. You can talk much to Indians by signs, 
and those with us managed to make themselves a little under- 
stood in their language. I took occasion to explain some- 
thing of the truth of God, and the mysteries of our redemp- 



174 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE. 



tion, of which they saw the arms. During this time they 
showed that they relished what I said, by raising their eyes 
to heaven, and kneeling as if to adore. We also saw them 
rub their hands over their bodies after rubbing them over 
the cross. In fact, on our return from the sea, we found 
that they had surrounded the cross with a palisade. They 
finally gave us provisions and men, to conduct us, and serve 
as interpreters with the Taensa, their allies, who are eighty 
leagues distant from their village. 

On the 17th we continued our route, and six leagues lower 
down we found another village of the same Akansa nation, 
and then another three leagues lower, the people of which 
were of the same kind, and received us most hospitably.* 
We gave them presents and tokens of our coming in peace 
and friendship. 

On the 22d we reached the Taensa, who dwell around a 

* Amid the conflict of names to be found in early narratives, it is a 
relief to meet so much uniformity relative to the Akansas. It is not, 
indeed, easy to recognize them in the Quigata, Quipana, Pacaha, or 
Cayas, of De Soto's expedition. Marquette, in his journal, first gives 
the name, " Akamsea," which has remained to this day on his map. 
He gives near them the Papikaha, and Atotchasi. Father Membre here 
mentions three towns of the tribe, but does not name them. Tonty does, 
and has on the Mississippi the Kappas, and inland the Toyengan or 
Tongenga, the Toriman, and the Osotonoy or Assotoue. The latter is, 
indeed, his post, but, old deeds show a village lay opposite, which 
probably gave its name. On the next expedition, Father Anastasius 
writes Kappa, Doginga, Toriman, and Osotteoez, which Joutel repeats, 
changing Doginga to Tongenga, and Osotteoez to Otsotchove. In 
1721, Father Charlevoix writes them the Kappas, Toremans, Topingas, 
and Sothouis, adding another tribe, the Ouyapes, though there were 
still but four villages. In 1729, Father Poisson places them all on the 
Arkansas — the Tourimans and Tongingas, nine leagues from the mouth 
by the lower branch, the Sauthouis three leagues further, and the 
Kappas still higher up. 

The only material difference is in the Atotchasi, Otsotchove, Osot- 
teoez, Ossotonoy, Assotoue, or Sothouis, in which, however, there is 
similarity enough to establish identity. They call themselves Oguapas, 
and never use the term " Arkansas.*' — (Nuttal.) 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 75 

little lake formed in the land by the river Mississippi. They 
have eight villages. The walls of their houses are made of 
earth mixed with straw; the roof is of canes, which form a 
dome adorned with paintings; they have wooden beds, and 
much other furniture, and even ornaments in their temples, 
where they inter the bones of their chiefs. They are dressed 
in white blankets made of the bark of a tree which they spin; 
their chief is absolute, and disposes of all without consulting 
anybody. He is attended by slaves, as are all his family. 
Food is brought him outside his cabin; drink is given him 
in a particular cup, with much neatness. His wives and 
children are similarly treated, and the other Taensa address 
him with respect and ceremony. 

The sieur de la Salle being fatigued and unable to go into 
the town, sent in the sieur de Tonty and myself with pres- 
ents. The chief of this nation not content with sending 
him provisions and other presents, wished also to see him, 
and accordingly, two hours before the time a master of cere- 
monies came, followed by six men; he made them clear the 
way he was to pass, prepare a place, and cover it with a 
delicately-worked cane-mat. The chief who came some time 
after was dressed in a fine white cloth, or blanket. He was 
preceded by two men, carrying fans of white feathers. A 
third carried a copper plate, and a round one of the same 
metal, both highly polished. He maintained a very grave 
demeanor during this visit, which was, however, full of con- 
fidence and marks of friendship. 

The whole country is covered with palm-trees, laurels of 
two kinds, plums, peaches, mulberry, apple, and pear trees 
of every kind. There are also five or six kinds of nut-trees, 
some of which bear nuts of extraordinary size. They also 
gave us several kinds of dried fruit to taste; we found them 
large and good. They have also many other kinds of fruit- 



I76 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE. 

trees which I never saw in Europe; but the season was too 
early to allow us to see the fruit. We observed vines already 
out of blossom. The mind and character of this people ap- 
peared on the whole docile and manageable, and even capa- 
ble of reason. I made them understand all I wished about 
our mysteries. They conceived pretty well the necessity of 
a God, the creator and director of all, but attribute this di- 
vinity to the sun. Religion may be greatly advanced among 
them, as well as among the Akansas, both these nations be- 
ing half civilized. 

Our guides would go no further for fear of falling into 
the hands of their enemies, for the people on one shore are 
generally enemies of those on the other. There are forty 
villages on the east, and thirty-four on the west of all of 
which we were told the names. 

The 26th of March resuming our course, we perceived, 
twelve leagues lower down, a periagua or wooden canoe, to 
which the sieur de Tonty gave chase, till approaching the 
shore, we perceived a great number of Indians. The sieur 
de la Salle, with his usual precaution, turned to the opposite 
banks, and then sent the calumet of peace by the sieur de 
Tonty. Some of the chief men crossed the river to come to 
us as good friends. They were fishermen of the Nachie 
tribe (Natchez), enemies of the Taensa. Although their vil- 
lage lay three leagues inland, the sieur de la Salle did not 
hesitate to go there with a part of our force. We slept there, 
and received as kindly a welcome as we could expect; the 
sieur de la Salle, whose very air, engaging manners, and 
skilful mind, command alike love and respect, so impressed 
the heart of these Indians, that they did not know how to 
treat us well enough. They would gladly have kept us with 
them ; and even in sign of their esteem, that night informed 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1JJ 

the Koroa,* their ally, whose chief and head men came the 
next day to the village, where they paid their obeisance to 
the king of the French, in person of their sieur de la Salle, 
who was well able to exalt in every quarter the power and 
glory of his nation. 

After having planted the king's arms under the cross, and 
made presents to the Nachie, we returned to the camp the 
next day with the head men of the town, and the Koroa 
chief, who accompanied us to his village, situated ten leagues 
below, on a beautiful eminence, surrounded on one side by 
fine corn lands, and on the other by beautiful prairies. This 
chief presented the sieur de la Salle with a calumet, and 
feasted him and all his party. We here, as elsewhere, made 
presents in return. They told us that we had still ten days 
to sail to the sea. 

The Sicacha (Chickasaw) whom we had brought thus far, 
obtained leave to remain in the village, which we left on 
Easter Sunday, the 29th of March, after having celebrated 
the divine mysteries for the French, and fulfilled the duties 
of good Christians. For our Indians, though of the most 
advanced and best instructed, were not yet capable. 

About six leagues below, the river divides into two arms, 
or channels, forming a great island, which must be more 
than sixty leagues long. We followed the channel on the 
right, although we had intended to take the other, but passed 
it in a fog without seeing it. We had a guide with us, who 
pointed it out by signs; but his canoe being then behind, those 
in it neglected when the Indian told them to overtake us, 
for we were considerably ahead. We were informed that, on 
the other channel, there are ten different nations, numerous, 
and well-disposed. 

* Marquette's map mentions this tribe as lying inland, on the western 
side. He writes it "Akoroa." 



I78 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE. 

On the second of April, after having sailed forty leagues, 
we perceived some fishermen on the bank of the river; they 
took flight, and we immediately after heard sasacoiiest, that 
is, war-cries, and beating of drums. It was the Quinipissa 
nation. Four Frenchmen were sent to offer them the calu- 
met of peace, with orders not to fire ; but they had to return 
in hot haste, because the Indians let fly a shower of arrows 
at them. Four of our Mohegans, who went soon after, met 
no better welcome. This obliged the sieur de la Salle to 
continue his route, till two leagues lower down, we entered 
a village of the Tangibao,* which had been recently sacked 
and plundered; we found there three cabins full of human 
bodies dead for fifteen or sixteen days. 

At last, after a navigation of about forty leagues, we ar- 
rived, on the sixth of April, at a point where the river 
divides into three channels. The sieur de la Salle divided 
his party the next day into three bands, to go and explore 
them. He took the western, sieur Dautray the southern, the 
sieur Tonty, whom I accompanied, the middle one. These 
three channels are beautiful and deep. The water is brack- 
ish; after advancing two leagues it became perfectly salt, 
and advancing further on, we discovered the open sea, so 
that on the ninth of April, with all possible solemnity, we 
performed the ceremony of planting the cross and raising 
the arms of France. After we had chanted the hymn of the 
church, "Vexilla Regis," and the " Te Deum," the sieur 
de la Salle, in the name of his majesty, took possession of 
that river, of all rivers that enter it, and of all the country 
watered by them. An authentic act was drawn up, signed 
by all of us there, and amid a volley from all our muskets, a 
leaden plate inscribed with the arms of France, and the 

* Called in act of possession, "Maheouala." 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 79 

names of those who had just made the discovery, was de- 
posited in the earth.* The sieur de la Salle, who always 
carried an astrolabe took the latitude of the mouth. Al- 
though he kept to himself the exact point, we have learned 
that the river falls into the gulf of Mexico, between 27 0 and 
28 0 north, and, as is thought, at the point where maps lay 
down the Rio Escondido. This mouth is about thirty 
leagues distant from the Rio Bravo, (Rio Grande), sixty 
from the Rio de Palmas, and ninety or a hundred leagues 
from the river Panuco (Tampico), where the nearest Span- 
ish post on the coast is situated. We reckoned that Espiritu 
Santo bay (Appalachee Bay), lay northeast of the mouth. 
From the Ilinois' river, we always went south or southwest ; 
the river winds a little, preserves to the sea its breadth of 
about a quarter of a league, is everywhere very deep, with- 
out banks, or any obstacle to navigation, although the con- 
trary has been published, f This river is reckoned eight 
hundred leagues long; we travelled at least three hundred 
and fifty from the mouth of the river Seignelay. 

We were out of provisions, and found only some dried 
meat at the mouth, which we took to appease our hunger; 
but soon after perceiving it to be human flesh, we left the 
rest to our Indians. It was very good and delicate. At last 
on the tenth of April, we began to remount the river, living 
only on potatoes and crocodiles (alligators). The country 
is so bordered with canes, and so low in this part, that we 
could not hunt, without a long halt. On the twelfth we slept 
at the village of the Tangibao, and as the sieur de la Salle 

* See De la Salle's proces verbal of the taking possession of Louisi- 
ana, in the Hist. Coll. of Louisiana, vol. i., p. 45. 

t We do not know to what Father Membre refers. Marquette's work 
makes no such assertion of the Mississippi. Hennepin, indeed, says 
that an Illinois had so stated before La Salle went down. — Description 
de la Lonisiane, p. 177. 



l8o NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE. 

wished to have corn willingly or by force . . . Our Abnakis 
perceived, on the thirteenth, as we advanced, a great smoke 
near. We thought that this might be the Quinipissa, who had 
fired on us some days before; those whom we sent out to 
reconnoitre brought in four women of the nation, on the 
morning of the fourteenth, and we went and encamped 
opposite the village. After dinner some periaguas came to- 
ward us, to brave us; but the sieur de la Salle having ad- 
vanced in person with the calumiet of peace, on their refusal 
to receive it, a gun was fired which terrified these savages 
who had never seen firearms. They called it thunder, not un- 
derstanding how a wooden stick could vomit fire, and kill 
people so far off without touching them. This obliged the 
Indians to take flight, although in great force, armed in their 
manner. At last the sieur de la Salle followed them to the 
other side ( , and put one woman on the shore with a present 
of axes, knives, and beads, giving her to understand that the 
other three should follow soon, if she brought some Indian 
corn. The next day a troop of Indians having appeared, 
the sieur de la Salle went to meet them, and concluded a 
peace, receiving and giving hostages. He then encamped 
near their village, and they brought us some little corn. We 
at last went up to the village, where these Indians had pre- 
pared us a feast in their fashion. They had notified their 
allies and neighbors, so that, when we went to enjoy the 
banquet in a large square, we saw a confused mass of armed 
savages arrive one after another. We were, however, wel- 
comed by the chiefs, but having ground for suspicion, each 
kept his gun ready, and the Indians seeing it, durst not 
attack us. 

The sieur de la Salle retired with all his people, and his 
hostages into his camp, and give up the Quinipissa women. 
The next morning before daybreak, our sentinel reported 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. l8l 



that he heard a noise among the canes on the banks of the 
river. The sieur Dautray, said that it was nothing; but the 
sieur de la Salle, always on the alert, having already heard 
noise, called to arms. As we instantly heard war-cries, 
and arrows were fired from quite near us, we kept up a 
brisk fire,, although it began to rain. Day broke, and after 
two hours' fighting, and the loss of ten men killed on their 
side, and many wounded, they took to flight, without any of 
us having been injured. Our people wished to go and burn 
the village of these traitors; but the sieur de la Salle pru- 
dently wished only to make himself formidable to this 
nation, without! exasperating it, in order to manage 
them in time of need. We, however, destroyed many of 
their canoes. They were near, but contented themselves 
with running away and shouting. Our Mohegans took only 
two scalps. 

We set out then the evening of the same day, the eigh- 
teenth of April, and arrived on the first of May, at the Koroa, 
after having suffered much from want of provisions. The 
Koroa had been notified by the Quinipissa, their allies, and 
had, with the intention of avenging them, assembled Indians 
of several villages, making a very numerous army, which 
appeared on the shores, and often approached us to recon- 
noitre. As this nation had contracted friendship with us on 
our voyage down, we were not a little surprised at the 
change; but they told us the reason, which obliged us to keep 
on our guard. The sieur de la Salle even advanced intrep- 
idly, so that the Indians durst not undertake anything. 

When we passed going down, we were pretty well pro- 
vided with Indian corn, and had put a quantity in cache, 
pretty near their village. We found it in good condition; 
and having taken it up, continued our route; but were sur- 
prised to see the Indian corn at this place, which, the twenty- 



1 82 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE. 

ninth of March, was just sprouting from the ground, al- 
ready fit to eat, and we then learned that it ripened in fifty 
days. We also remarked other corn four inches above 
ground. 

We set out then the same day, the first of May in the 
evening, and after seeing several different nations on the 
following days, and renewed our alliance with the Taensa, 
who received us perfectly well, we arrived at the Akansa 
where we were similarly received. W 7 e left it on the eigh- 
teenth, the sieur de la Salle went on with two canoes of our 
Mohegans and pushed on to a hundred leagues below the 
river Seignelay, where he fell sick. We joined him there 
with the rest of the troop on the second of June. As his 
malady was dangerous, and brought him to extremity, 
unable to advance any further, he was obliged to send for- 
ward the sieur de Tonty for the Ilinois and Miamis, to take 
up our caches, and put everything in order, appointing 
Tonty to command there. But at last the malady of the 
sieur de la Salle, which lasted forty days, during which I 
assisted him to my utmost, having somewhat abated, we 
started at the close of July, by slow journeys. At the end 
of September, we reached the Miami river, where we learned 
of several military expeditions made by the sieur de Tonty 
after he had left us. He had left the sieur Dautray, and the 
sieur Cochois among the Miamis, and other people among 
the Ilinois, with two hundred new cabins of Indians, who 
were going to repeople that nation. The said sieur de Tonty 
pushed on to Missilimakinac, to render an account, more 
at hand, of our discovery to the governor, the count de 
Frontenac, on behalf of the sieur de la Salle, who prepared 
to retrace his steps to the sea the next spring with a larger 
force, and families to begin establishments. 

The river Seignelay is very beautiful, especially below the 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 83 

Ilinois (Indians), wide and deep, forming two lakes as far 
as the sea (jusqu J a la mer), edged with hills, covered with 
beautiful trees of all kinds, whence you discern vast prairies 
on which herds of wild-cattle pasture in confusion. The 
river often overflows, and renders the country around 
marshy, for twenty or thirty leagues from the sea.* The 
soil around is good, capable of producing all that can be de- 
sired for subsistence. We even found hemp there growing 
wild, much finer than that of Canada. The whole country 
on this river is charming in its aspect. 

It is the same with what we have visited on the river Col- 
bert. When you are twenty or thirty leagues below the 
Maroa, the banks are full of canes until you reach the sea, 
except in fifteen or twenty places where there are very pretty 
hills, and spacious, convenient, landing-places. The inunda- 
tion does not extend far, and behind these drowned lands 
you see the finest country in the world. Our hunters, 
French and Indian, were delighted with it. For an extent 
of at least two hundred leagues in length, and as much in 
breadth, as we were told, there are vast fields of excellent 
land, diversified here and there with pleasing hills, lofty 
woods, groves through which you might ride on horseback, 
so clear and unobstructed are the paths. These little for- 
ests also line the rivers which intersect the country in var- 
ious places, and which abound in fish. The crocodiles are 
dangerous here, so much so that in some parts no one would 
venture to expose himself, or even put his hand cut of his 
canoe. The Indians told us that these animals often dragged 
in their people, where they could anywhere get hold of them. 

The fields are full of all kinds of game, wild-cattle, stags, 

* I can not see what he means by the term sea in these two places ; 
unless in the former it means the mouth, and in the latter, the bed 
of the river. 

18 



184 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE. 

does, deer, bears, turkeys, partridges, parrots, quails, wood- 
cock, wild-pigeons, and ring-doves. There are also beaver, 
otters, martens, till a hundred leagues below the Maroa, es- 
pecially in the river of the Missouri, the Ouabache, that of 
the Chepousseau (the Cumberland?), which is opposite it, 
and on all the smaller ones in this part; but we could not 
learn that there were any beavers on this side toward the 
sea. 

There are no wild beasts, formidable to man. That which 
is called Michybichy never attacks man, although it de- 
vours the strongest beasts; its head is like that of a lynx, 
though much larger; the body long and large like a deer's, 
but much more slender ; the legs also shorter, the paws like 
those of a wild-cat, but much larger, with longer and 
stronger claws, which it uses to kill the beasts it would de- 
vour. It eats a little, then carries off the rest on its back, 
and hides it under some leaves, where ordinarily no other 
beast of prey touches it. Its skin and tail resemble those of 
a lion, to which it is inferior only in size. 

The cattle of this country surpass ours in size ; their head 
is monstrous, and their look frightful, on account of the 
long, black hair with which it is surrounded, and which 
hangs below the chin, and along the houghs of this animal. 
It has on the back a kind of upright crests (coste), of 
which that nearest the neck isl longest, the others diminish 
gradually to the middle of the back. The hair is fine, and 
scarce inferior to wool. The Indians wear their skins which 
they dress very neatly with earth, which serves also for paint. 
These animals are easily approached, and never fly from 
you ; they could be easily domesticated. 

There is another little animal (the opossum) like a rat 
though as large as a cat, with silvery hair sprinkled with 
black. The tail is bare, as thick as a large finger, and about 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 185 

a foot long; with this it suspends itself, when it is on the 
branches of trees. It has under the belly a kind of pouch 
where it carries its young when pursued. 

The Indians assured us that inland, toward the west, there 
are animals on which men ride, and which carry very heavy 
loads, they described them as horses, and showed us two feet 
which were actually hoofs of horses. 

We observed everywhere wood of various kinds fit for 
every use; and among others the most beautiful cedars in the 
world, and another kind shedding an abundance of gum, as 
pleasant to burn as the best French pastilles. We also re- 
marked everywhere, hemlocks, and many other pretty large 
trees with white bark. The cotton- wood trees are large; of 
these, the Indians dig out canoes forty or fifty feet long, and 
have sometimes fleets of a hundred and fifty below their vil- 
lages. We saw every kind of tree fit for ship-building. 
There is also plenty of hemp for cordage, and tar might be 
made remarkably near the sea. 

You meet prairies everywhere; sometimes of fifteen or 
twenty leagues front, and three or four deep, ready to re- 
ceive the plough. The soil excellent, capable of supporting 
great colonies. Beans grow wild, and the stalks last several 
years, always bearing fruit; it is thicker than an arm, and 
runs up like ivy to the tops of the highest trees. The peach- 
trees are quite like those of France, and very good; they are 
so loaded with fruit, that the Indians have to prop up those 
they cultivate in their clearings. There are whole forests 
of very fine mulberries, of which we ate the fruit from the 
month of May; many plum-trees and other fruit-trees, some 
known and others unknown in Europe; vines, pomegranates, 
and horse-chestnuts, are common. They raise three or four 
crops of corn a year. I have already stated that I saw some 



1 86 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE 

ripe, while more was sprouting. Winter is known only by 
the rains. 

We had not time to look for mines ; we only found coal in 
several places; the Indians who had lead and copper wished 
to lead us to many places, whence they take it; there 
are quarries of very fine stone, white and black marble, yet 
the Indians do not use it. 

These tribes, though savage, seem generally of very good 
dispositions, affable, obliging, and docile. They have no 
true idea of religion by a regular worship; but we remarked 
some confused ideas, and a particular veneration they had 
for the sun, which they recognize as him who made and pre- 
serves all. It is surprising how different their language 
is from that of tribes not ten leagues off ; they manage, how- 
ever, to understand each; and, besides, there is always some 
interpreter of one nation residing in another, when they are 
allies, and who) acts as a kind of consul. They are very dif- 
ferent from our Canada Indians in their houses, dress, man- 
ners, inclinations, and customs, and even in the form of the 
head, for theirs is very flat. They have large public squares, 
games, assemblies; they seem lively and active; their chiefs 
possess all the authority; no one would dare pass between 
the chiefs and the cane-torch which burns in his cabin, and 
is carried before him when he goes out; all make a circuit 
around it with some ceremony. The chiefs have their valets 
and officers who follow them and serve them everywhere. 
They distribute their favors and presents at will. In a word, 
we generally found them to be men. We saw none who knew 
firearms, or even iron or steel articles, using stone knives 
and hatchets. This was quite contrary to what had been 
told us, when we were assured that they traded with the 
Spaniards, who were said to be only twenty-five or thirty 
leagues off; they had axes, guns, and all commodities found 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 87 

in Europe.* We found, indeed, tribes that had bracelets of 
real pearls; but they pierce them when hot, and thus spoil 
them. Monsieur de la Salle brought some with him. The 
Indians told us that their warriors brought them from very 
far, in the direction of the sea, and receive them in exchange 
from some nations apparently on the Florida side. 

There are many other things which our people observed 
on advancing a little into the country to hunt, or which we 
learned from the tribes, through whom we passed; but I 
should be tedious were I to detail them; and, besides, the 
particulars should be better known. 

To conclude, our expedition of discovery was accom- 
plished without having lost any of our men, French or In- 
dian, and without anybody's being wounded, for which we 
were indebted to the protection of the Almighty, and the 
great capacity of Monsieur de la Salle. I will say nothing 
here of conversions; formerly the apostles had but to enter 
a country, when on the first publication of the gospel, great 
conversions were seen. I am but a miserable sinner, in- 
finitely destitute of the merits of the apostles; but we must 
also acknowledge that these miraculous ways of grace are 
not attached to the exercise of our ministry; God employ? 

* Here again it is difficult to decide whether he alludes to Marquette, 
or some other account that may have been given. Father Marquette 
found some guns rather for show than for use in the hands of the 
first Illinois party, west of the Mississippi, which Father Membre did 
not visit. He also met a tribe coming from the east to war on the 
Mississippi tribes, also supplied with firearms, these Father Membre 
did not meet. As to the Arkansas, Marquette states that he found among 
them knives, axes, and beads, bought from other Indian tribes on the 
east, and from the Illinois. Speaking of their trade, he makes no allu- 
sion to the Spaniards, although he must have supposed that the lower 
tribes traded with either Florida or Mexico. It is somewhat strange 
that Father Membre, who here seems to make light of Marquette's fear 
of being taken, and held a prisoner by the Spaniards, should have 
escaped only by a bloody death the detention to which the survivors 
of Fort St. Louis were subjected. 



1 88 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MEMBRE 

an ordinary and common way, following which I contented 
myself with announcing, as well as I could, the principal 
truths of Christianity to the nations I met. The Ilinois 
language served me about a hundred leagues down the river, 
and I made the rest understand by gestures and some term 
in their dialect which I insensibly picked up; but I can not 
say that my little efforts produced certain fruits. With re- 
gard to these people, perhaps, some one by a secret effect of 
grace, has profited ; God only knows. All we have done has 
been to see the state of these tribes, and to open the way to 
the gospel and to missionaries; having baptized only two in- 
fants, whom I saw struggling with death, and who, in fact, 
died in our presence. 



ACCOUNT 

OF 

LA SALLE'S ATTEMPT TO BEAOH THE MISSISSIPPI BY SEA, 

AND OF THE 

ESTABLISHMENT OF A FRENCH COLONY IN ST. LOUIS BAY, 
BY 

FATHER CHRISTIAN LE CLERCQ. 



THE first design of the sieur de la Salle had been to 
find the long-sought passage to the Pacific ocean, and 
although the. river Colbert (Mississippi) does not lead to it, 
yet this great man had so much talent and courage, that he 
hoped to find it, if it were possible, as he would have done, 
had God spared his life. 

The Ilinois territory, and vast countries around, being the 
centre of his discovery, he spent there the winter, summer, 
and beginning of autumn, 1683, in establishing his posts. 
He at last left Monsieur de Tonty, as commandant and re- 
solved to return to France to render an account of his ful- 
filment of the royal orders. He reached Quebec early in 
November, and Rochelle, France, on the twenty-third of 
December. 

His design was to go by sea to the mouth of the river 



I90 NARRATIVE OF FATHER LE CLERCQ. 

Colbert, and there found powerful colonies under the good 
pleasure of the king. These proposals* were favorably re- 
ceived by Monsieur de S'eignelay, minister and secretary of 
state, and superintendent of commerce and navigation in 
France. His majesty accepted them and condescended to 
favor the undertaking not only by new powers and com- 
missions, which he conferred upon him, but also by the help 
of vessels, troops, and money, which his royal liberality fur- 
nished him. 

The first care of the sieur de la Salle, after being invested 
with these powers, was to provide for the spiritual, to ad- 
vance especially the glory of God in this enterprise. He 
turned to two different bodies of missionaries, in order to 
obtain men able to labor in the salvation of souls, and lay 
the foundations of Christianity in this savage land. He ac- 
cordingly applied to Monsieur Trongon, superior-general of 
the clergymen of the seminary of St. Sulpice, who willingly 
took part in the work of God, and appointed three of his 
ecclesiastics full of zeal, virtue,, and capacity, to commence 
these new missions. They were Monsieur Cavelier, brother 
of the sieur de la Salle, Monsieur Chefdeville, his relative, 
and Monsieur de Ma'iulle,t all three priests. 

As for nearly ten years the Recollects had endeavored to 
second the designs of the sieur de la Salle for the glory of 
God and the sanctification of souls throughout the vast coun- 
tries of Louisiana, depending on him from Fort Frontenac, 
and had accompanied him on his expeditions, in which our 
Father Gabriel was killed, he made it an essential point to 
take some one of our fathers to labor in concert to establish 
the kingdom of God in these new countries. For this pur- 

* See M. de la Salle's Memoir in Hist. Coll. of Louisiana, vol. i., p. 
25. 

t Called by Joutel Dainmaville. See Hist. Coll. of Louisiana, vol. 
i., p. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 19I 

pose, he applied to the Rev. Father Hyacinth le Febvre, who 
had been twice provincial of our province of St. Anthony, in 
Artois, and was then, for the second time, provincial of that 
of St. Denis in France, who, wishing to second with all his 
power the pious intentions of the sieur de la Salle, granted 
him the religious he asked : namely, Father Zenobius Mem- 
bre superior of the mission, and Fathers Maximus Le 
Clercq and Anastasius Douay, all three of our province of 
St. Anthony, the first having been for four years the insepar- 
able companion of the sieur de la Salle during his discovery 
on land ; the second had served for five years with great edi- 
fication in Canada, especially in the mission of the seven 
islands, and Onticosti. Father Dennis Morguet was added 
as a fourth priest; but that religious finding himself ex- 
tremely sick on the third day after embarking, he was 
obliged to give up and return to his province. 

The reverend father provincial had informed the Congre- 
gation de propaganda fide, of this mission, to obtain neces- 
sary authority for the exercise of our ministry; he received 
decrees in due form, which we will place at the end of the 
chapter, not to interrupt the reader's attention here. His 
holiness Innocent XL, added by an express brief, authentic 
powers, and permissions in twenty-six articles, as the holy 
see is accustomed to grant to missionaries whose remoteness 
makes it morally impossible to recur to the authority of the 
ordinary. It was granted against the opposition of the 
bishop of Quebec, Cardinal d'Estrees having shown that the 
distance from Quebec to the mouth of the river was more 
than eight or nine hundred leagues by land.* 

The hopes that were then justly founded on this famous 
expedition, induced many young gentlemen to join the sieur 

* Similar opposition compelled the first Jesuits in Louisiana to leave 
soon after their arrival with Iberville. 



192 NARRATIVE OF FATHER LE CLERCQ. 

de la Salle as volunteers; he chose twelve who seemed most 
resolute; among them, the sieur de Morange, and the sieur 
Cavelier, his nephews, the latter only fourteen years of age. 

The little fleet was fitted out at Rochelle, to be composed 
of four vessels — the Joly, a royal ship, a frigate called the 
Belle, a storeship called the Aimable, and a ketch called the 
St. Francis. The royal vessel was commanded by Captain 
de Beaujeu, a Norman gentleman known for valor and ex- 
perience, and his meritorious services; his lieutenant was M. 
le chevalier d'Aire, now captain in the navy, and son of the 
dean of the parliament of Metz. The sieur de Hamel, a 
young gentleman of Bouage, full of fire and courage, was 
ensign. Would to God the troops and the rest of the crew 
had been as well chosen ! Those who were appointed, while 
M. de la S'alle was at Paris, picked up a hundred and fifty 
soldiers, mere wretched beggars soliciting alms, many too 
deformed and unable to fire a musket. The sieur de la Salle 
had also given orders at Rochelle to engage three or four 
mechanics in each trade ; the selection was, however, so bad, 
that when they came to the! destination, and they were set to 
work, it was seen that they knew nothing at all. Eight or 
ten families of very good people presented themselves, and 
offered to go and begin the colonies. Their offer was ac- 
cepted, and great advances made to them as well as to the 
artisans and soldiers. 

All being ready, they sailed on the 24th of July, 1684. A 
storm which came on a few days later, obliged them to put 
in at Chef-de-Bois to repair one of their masts broken in the 
gale. They set sail again on the 1st of August, steering for 
St. Domingo; but a second storm overtook them, and dis- 
persed them on the fourteenth of September, the Aimable 
and the Belle alone remaining together, reached Petit Goave 
in St. Domingo, where, they fortunately found the Joly. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 93 

The St. Francis being loaded with goods and effects, and 
unable to follow the others, had put in at Port de Paix, 
whence she sailed after the storm was over to join the fleet 
at the rendezvous; but as during the night, while quite calm, 
the captain and crew thinking themselves in safety, were 
perfectly off their guard, they were surprised by two Span- 
ish periaguas, which took the ketch. 

This was the first mishap which befell the voyage; a dis- 
aster which caused universal consternation in the party, and 
much grief to the sieur de la Salle, who was just recovering 
from a dangerous malady, which had brought him to the 
verge of the grave. They stayed, indeed, some time at St. 
Domingo, where they laid in provisions, a store of Indian 
corn, and of all kinds of domestic animals to stock the new 
country. M. de St. Laurent, governor-general of the Isles, 
Begon intendant, and de Cussy, governor of St. Domingo, 
favored them in every way, and even restored the reciprocal 
understanding so necessary to succeed in such undertakings ; 
but the soldiers, and most of the crew, having plunged into 
every kind of debauchery and intemperance, so common in 
those parts, were so ruined and contracted such dangerous 
disorders that some died in the island, and others never re- 
covered. 

The little fleet thus reduced to three vessels, weighed an- 
chor November 25th, 1684, and pursued its way quite suc- 
cessfully along the Cayman isles, and passing by the Isle of 
Peace (pines) , after anchoring there a day to take in water, 
reached Port San Antonio, on the island of Cuba, where the 
three ships immediately anchored. The beauty and allure- 
ment of the spot, and its advantageous position, induced 
them to stay and even land. For some unknown reason the 
Spaniards had abandoned their several kinds of provisions, 
and among the rest some Spanish wine, which they took, 



194 NARRATIVE OF FATHER LE CLERCQ. 

and after two days' repose, left to continue the voyage to the 
gulf of Mexico. 

The sieur de la Salle, although very clear-headed, and not 
easily mislead, had, however, too easily believed the advice 
given him by some persons in St. Domingo; he discovered, 
too late, that all the sailing directions given him were abso- 
lutely false; the fear of being injured by northerly winds, said 
to be very frequent and dangerous at the entrance of the gulf, 
made them twice lie to, but the discernment and courage of 
the sieur de la Salle made them try the passage a third time, 
and they entered happily on the ist of January, 1685, when 
Father Anastasius celebrated a solemn mass as a thanksgiv- 
ing, after which, continuing the route, they arrived in fif- 
teen days in sight of the coast of Florida, when a violent 
wind forced the Joly to stand off, the store-ship and frigate 
coasting along, the sieur de la Salle being anxious to follow 
the shore. 

He had been persuaded at St. Domingo, that the gulf- 
stream ran with incredible rapidity toward the Bahama chan- 
nel. This false advice set him entirely astray, for thinking 
himself much further north than he was, he not only passed 
Espiritu Santo bay (Appalachee) without recognizing it, 
but even followed the coast far beyond the river Colbert, 
and would even have continued to follow it, had they not 
perceived by its turning south, and by the latitude, that they 
were more than forty or fifty leagues from the mouth, the 
more so, as the river, before emptying into the gulf, coasts 
along the shore of the gulf to the west, and as longitude is 
unknown to pilots, it proved that he had greatly passed his 
parallel lines. 

The vessels at last, in the middle of February, met at 
Espiritu Santo bay, where there was an almost continual 
roadstead. They resolved to return whence they came, and 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 195 

advanced ten or twelve leagues to a bay which they called 
St. Louis bay (St. Bernard). As provisions began to fail, 
the soldiers had already landed, the sieur de la Salle ex- 
plored and sounded the bay which is a league broad, with a 
good bottom. He thought that it might be the right arm of 
the river Colbert. He brought the frigate in without acci- 
dent on the eighteenth of February; the channel is deep, so 
deep in fact, that even on the sand bar, which in a manner 
bars the entrance, there are twelve or fifteen feet of water 
at low tide. 

The sieur de la Salle having ordered the captain of the 
store-ship not to enter without the pilot of the frigate, in 
whom he put all confidence, to unload his cannon and water 
into the boats to lighten his cargo, and lastly, to follow 
exactly the channel staked out ; none of his orders were exe- 
cuted, and the faithless man, in spite of the advice given 
him by a sailor who was at the main-top, to keep off, drove 
his vessel on the shoals where he touched and stranded, so 
that it was impossible to get off. 

La Salle was on the seashore when he saw this deplorable 
maneuvre, and was embarking to remedy it, when he saw a 
hundred or a hundred and twenty Indians come; he had to 
put all under arms, the roll of the drum put the savages to 
flight; he followed them, presented the calumet of peace, and 
conducted them to their camp, regaled them, and even made 
them presents; and the sieur de la Salle gained them so that 
an alliance was made with them; they brought meat to the 
camp the following days; he bought some of their canoes, 
and there was every reason to expect much from this neces- 
sary union. 

Misfortune would have it that a bale of blanketing from 
the wreck was thrown on shore; some days after a party 
of Indians seized it, the sieur de la Salle ordered his men to 



I96 NARRATIVE OF FATHER LE CLERCQ. 

get it out of their hands peaceably; they did just the con- 
trary; the commander presented his musket as if about to 
fire; this so alarmed them, that they regarded us only as 
enemies. Provoked to fury they assembled on the night 
of the 6th and 7th of March, and finding the sentinel asleep, 
poured in a destructive volley of arrows. Our men ran to 
arms, the noise of musketry put them to flight, after they 
had killed on the spot the sieurs Oris and Desloge, two 
cadets volunteers, and dangerously wounded the sieur de 
Moranger, lieutenant and nephew of the sieur de la Salle, 
and the sieur Gaien, a volunteer. The next day they killed 
two more of our men, whom they found sleeping on the 
shore. 

Meanwhile, the store-ship remained more than three weeks 
at the place of its wreck, without going to pieces, but full of 
water; they saved all they could in periaguas and boats, 
when a calm allowed them to reach it. One day Father 
Zenobius having passed in a boat, it was dashed to pieces 
against the vessel by a sudden gust of wind. All quickly 
got on board, but the good father who remained last to save 
the rest, would have been drowned had not a sailor thrown 
him a rope, with which he drew himself up as he was sink- 
ing. 

At last Monsieur de Beaujeu sailed in the Joly with all 
his party on the twelfth of March, to return to France,* and 
the sieur de la Salle having thrown up a house with planks 
and pieces of timber to put his men and goods in safety, left 
a hundred men under the command of the sieur de Moran- 

* Le Clercq it will be observed, is silent as to the misunderstanding 
between La Salle and Beaujeu, which is mentioned by others, and borne 
out by letters of the latter. To him must in no small degree be ascribed 
the failure of La Salle's attempt. For the detail of their disagreement 
see Sparks's excellent Life of La Salle, and Joutel's journal in Historical 
Collection of Louisiana. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 97 

ger, and set out with fifty others; the sieur Cavelier and 
fathers Zenobius and Maximus intending to seek at the ex- 
tremity of the bay, the mouth of the river, and a proper 
place to fix his colony. 

The captain of the frigate had orders to sound the bay in 
boats, and to bring his vessel in as far as he could; he fol- 
lowed twelve leagues along the coast, which runs from 
southeast to northwest, and anchored opposite a point to 
which the sieur Hurier gave his name; he was appointed 
commander there; this post serving as a station between the 
naval camp, and the one the sieur de la Salle went, on the 
second of April, to form at the extremity of the bay, two 
leagues up a beautiful river called Cow river, from the great 
number of those wild animals, they found there. Our people 
were attacked there by a party of Indians, but repulsed them. 

On the twenty-first, holy Saturday, the sieur de la Salla 
came to the naval camp, where the next day and the three 
following, those great festivals were celebrated with all 
possible solemnity, each one receiving his Creator. The 
following days all the effects, and generally all that could be 
of service to the camp of the sieur de la Salle, were trans- 
ferred from those of the sieurs de Moranger and Hurier, 
which were destroyed. For a month the sieur de la Salle 
made them work cultivating the ground; but neither the 
grain nor the vegetables sprouted, either because they were 
damaged by the salt water, or because, as was afterwards re- 
marked, it was not the right season. The fort which was 
built in an advantageous position, was soon in a state of de- 
fence, furnished with twelve pieces of cannon, and a maga- 
zine under ground, for fear of fire, in which all the effects 
were safely deposited. The maladies which the soldiers had 
contracted at St. Domingo, were visibly carrying them off, 
and a hundred died in a few days, notwithstanding all the 



I98 NARRATIVE OF FATHER LE CLERCQ. 

relief afforded by broths, preserves, treacle, and wine, which 
were given them. 

On the 9th of August, 1685, three of our Frenchmen be- 
ing at the chase which is plentiful in these parts, in all kinds 
of game and deer, were surrounded by several troops of 
armed savages, but our men putting themselves on the de- 
fensive, first killed the chief and scalped him; this spectacle 
terrified and scattered the enemy, who nevertheless, some 
time after, surprised and killed one of our Frenchmen. 

On the thirteenth of October, the sieur de la Salle seeing 
himself constantly insulted by the savages, and wishing, 
moreover, to have some of their canoes by force or consent, 
as he could not do without them, resolved to make open war 
on them in order to bring them to an advantageous peace. 

He set out with sixty men armed with wooden corslets to 
protect them against arrows, and arrived where they had 
gathered; in different engagements by day and night, he 
put some to flight, wounded several, killed some; others 
were taken, among the rest some children, one of whom a 
girl three or four years old was baptized and died some days 
after, as the first fruits of this mission, and a sure conquest 
sent to heaven. The colonists now built houses, and formed 
fields by clearing the ground, the grain sowed succeeding 
better than the first. They crossed to the other side of the 
bay in canoes, and found on a large river a plentiful chase, 
especially of cattle and turkeys. In the fort they raised all 
kinds of domestic animals, cows, hogs, and poultry, which 
multiplied greatly. Lastly, the execution done among the 
Indians had rendered the little colony somewhat more se- 
cure, when a new misfortune succeeded all the preceding. 

The sieur de la Salle had ordered the captain of the frigate 
to sound the bay carefully as he advanced, and to recall all 
his men on board at nightfall; but this captain and. six of 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 99 

his strongest, stoutest, and ablest men, charmed with the 
agreeableness of the season, and the beauty of the country, 
left their canoe and arms on the sand at low-water, and ad- 
vanced a gun shot on the plain to be dry; here they fell 
asleep, and an Indian party espying them, surprised them, 
aided by their sleep and the darkness, massacred them 
cruelly, and destroyed their arms and canoe. This tragical 
adventure produced the greatest consternation in the camp. 

After rendering the last honors to the murdered men, the 
sieur de la Salle leaving provisions for six months, set out 
with twenty men and his brother, the sieur Cavelier, to seek 
the mouth of the river (Mississippi) by land. The bay 
which he discovered to be in latitude 27 ° 45' N., is the outlet 
of a great number of rivers, none of which, however, seemed 
large enough to be an arm of the river Colbert. The sieur 
de la Salle explored them in hope that a part of these rivers 
was formed further up by one of the branches of the said 
river; or, at least that by traversing the country to some dis- 
tance, he would make out the course of the Missisipi. He 
was longer absent than he had expected, being compelled 
to make rafts to cross the rivers, and to intrench himself 
every night to protect himself against attacks. The con- 
tinual rains, too, formed ravines, and destroyed the roads. 
At last, on the 13th of February, 1686, he thought that he 
had found the river; he fortified himself there, left part of 
his men, and with nine others continued to explore a most 
beautiful country traversing a number of villages and na- 
tions, who treated him very kindly ; at last, returning to find 
his people, he arrived at the general camp, on the 31st of 
May, charmed with the beauty and fertility of the fields, the 
incredible quantity of game of every kind, and the numerous 
tribes he had met on the way. 

The Almighty was preparing him a still more sensible 

19 



200 NARRATIVE OF FATHER LE CLERCQ. 

trial than' the preceding, in the loss of the frigate, his only 
remaining vessel in which he hoped to coast along, and then 
pass to St. Domingo, to sends news to France, and obtain 
new succor. This sad accident happened from want of pre- 
caution on the part of the pilot. All the goods were lost irre- 
coverably; the vessel struck on the shore, the sailors were 
drowned; the sieur de Chefdeville, the captain, and four 
others, with difficulty, escaped in a canoe which they found 
almost miraculously on the shore. They lost thirty-six bar- 
rels of flour, a quantity of wine, the trunks, clothes, linen, 
equipage, and most of the tools. We leave the reader to im- 
agine the grief and affliction felt by the sieur de la Salle at 
an accident which completely ruined all his measures. His 
great courage even could not have borne him up, had not 
God aided his virtue by the help of extraordinary grace. 

All these measures being thus disconcerted, and his affairs 
brought to extremes, he resolved to try to reach Canada by 
land; he returned some time after, and undertook a second 
in which he lost his life by the cruelty of his men, some of 
whom remaining faithful, continued their route and reached 
France, among the rest Father Anastasius Douay. Al- 
though the detail of his remarks was lost in his many wrecks, 
the following is an abridgment of what he could gather 
from them, with which, perhaps, the reader will 'be better 
pleased than if I gave it in my own style. 



NAEEATIVE 



or 

LA SALLE'S ATTEMPT TO AS0E5D THE MISSISSIPPI Iff 1687 

BY 

FATHER ANASTASIUS DOUAY, RECOLLEC1* 



THE sieur de la Salle seeing no other resource for his af- 
fairs, but to go by land to the Ilinois, to be able to give 
in France, tidings of his disasters, chose twenty of his best 
men, including Nika, one of our Shawnee Indians, who had 
constantly attended him from Canada to France, and from 
France to Mexico; Monsieur Cavelier, the sieur de Moran- 
get and I also joined them for this great journey, for which 
we made no preparation but four pounds of powder, and 
four of lead, two axes, two dozen knives, as many awls, some 
beads, and two kettles. After celebrating the divine mys- 

* Of Father Anastasius Douay we know little; Hennepin makes him 
a native of Quesnoy, in Hainault. He had never been in America be- 
fore, but after being connected with La Salle's expedition, from 1684 
to 1688, he reached France, as we shall see, in safety. He was, says 
Hennepin, vicar of the Recollects of Cambray, in 1697. Certain it is 
that he subsequently revisited America in 1699, with Iberville, but we 
can trace him no further. A man of observation and ability, he seems 
to have been quite sweeping in his charges, as we shall observe in the 
course of his narrative. The only point against him besides this, which 
was an excess of party feeling, was his share in the deception practised 
on Tonty. 



202 NARRATIVE OF FATHER DOUAY. 

teries in the chapel of the fort, and invoking together the 
help of Heaven, we set out on the 22d of April, 1686, in a 
northeasterly direction. 

On the third day we perceived in some of the finest plains 
in the world a number of people, some on foot, others on 
horseback; these came galloping toward us, booted and 
spurred, and seated on saddles. They invited us to their town, 
but as they were six leagues to the northwest, out of our 
route, we thanked them, after learning in conversation, that 
they had intercourse with the Spaniards. Continuing our 
march the rest of the day, we cabined at night in a little in- 
trenched stockade fort, to be beyond reach of insult ; this we 
always after practised with good results. 

Setting out the next morning, we marched for two* days 
through continual prairies to the river which we called Ro- 
bek, meeting everywhere so prodigious a quantity of Cibola, 
or wild cattle, that the smallest herds seemed to us to con- 
tain two or three hundred. We killed nine or ten in a mo- 
ment, and dried a part of the meat so as not to have to stop 
for five or six days. A league and a half further we met an- 
other and finer river, wider and deeper than the Seine at 
Earis, skirted by some of the finest trees in the world, set as 
regularly as though they had been planted by man. Among 
them were many mulberry and other fruit trees. On one 
side were prairies, on the other woods. We passed it on 
rafts, and called it La Maligne. 

Passing through this beautiful country, its delightful 
fields, and prairies skirted with vines, fruit-trees, and groves, 
we, a few days after, reached a river which we called Hiens, 
after a German from Wittemburg, who got so fast in the 
mud that he could scarcely get out. One of our men, with 
an axe on his back, swam over to the other side, a second 
followed at once; they then cut down the largest trees, while 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 203 

others on our side did the same. These trees were cut so as 
to fall on each side into the river, where meeting, they 
formed a kind of bridge on which we easily passed. This 
invention we had recourse to more than thirty times in our 
journeys, rinding it surer than the Cajeu, which is a kind of 
raft formed of many pieces, and branches tied together, on 
which we passed over, guiding it by a pole. 

Here the sieur de la Salle changed his route from north- 
east to east, for reasons which he did not tell us, and which 
we could never discover. 

After several days' march, in a pretty fine country, cross- 
ing ravines on rafts, we entered a much more agreeable and 
perfectly delightful territory, where we found a very numer- 
ous tribe who received us with all possible friendship, even 
the women coming to embrace our men. They made us sit 
down on well-made; mats, at the upper end, near the chiefs, 
who presented us the calumet adorned with feathers of every 
hue, which we had to smoke in turn. They served up to us 
among other things a sagamity, made of a kind of root called 
Toque, or Toquo. It is a shrub, like a kind of bramble 
without thorns, and has a very large root, which they wash 
and dry perfectly,, after which it is pounded and reduced to 
powder in a mortar. The sagamity has a good taste, though 
astringent. These Indians presented us with some cattle- 
skins, very neatly dressed, to make shoes ; we gave them in 
exchange beads, which they esteem highly. During our stay 
the sieur de la S'alle so won them by his manners, and insinu- 
ated so much of the glory of our king, telling them that he 
was greater and higher than the sun, that they were all rav- 
ished with astonishment. 

The sieur Cavelier and I endeavored here, as everywhere 
else, to give them some first knowledge of the true God. 
This nation is called Biskatronge, but we called them the na- 



204 NARRATIVE OF FATHER DOUAY. 

tion of weepers,* and gave their beautiful river the same 
name, because at our arrival and entrance, they all began to 
weep bitterly for a good quarter of an hour. It is their cus- 
tom when they see any who come from afar, because it re- 
minds them of their deceased relatives whom they suppose 
on a long journey, from which they await their return. 
These good people, in conclusion, gave us guides, and we 
passed their river in their periaguas. 

We crossed three or four others the following days, with- 
out any incident of note, except that our Shawnee, firing at 
a deer pretty near a large village, so terrified them all by the 
report that they took to flight. The sieur de la Salle put all 
under arms to enter the village, which consisted of three 
hundred cabins. We entered the largest, that of the chief, 
where we found his wife still, unable to fly from old age. 
The sieur de la Salle made her understand that we came as 
friends ; three of her sons, brave warriors, observed at a dis- 
tance what passed, and seeing us to be friendly, recalled all 
their people. Wei treated of peace, and the calumet was 
danced till evening, when the sieur de la Salle, not trusting 
them overmuch, went and encamped beyond the canes, so 
that, if the Indians approached by night, the noise of the 
canes would prevent our being surprised. 

This showed his discernment and prudence, for during the 
night a band of warriors, armed with arrows, approached; 
but the sieur de la Salle, without leaving his intrenchment, 
threatened to thunder his guns; and in a word spoke so 
bold and firmly, that he obliged them to draw off. After 
their retreat the night passed off quietly, and the next day 
after reciprocal marks of friendship, apparent at least on the 
side of the Indians, we pursued our route to five or six 

* Cabeza de Vaca from the same circumstance gives a similar name 
to a tribe in that quarter. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 205 

leagues beyond. Here we were agreeably surprised to find 
a party of Indians come out to meet us, with ears of corn in 
their hands, and a polished honest air. They embraced us, 
inviting us most pressingly to go and visit their villages; the 
sieur de la Salle seeing their sincerity, agreed. Among other 
things these Indians told us that they knew whites toward 
the west, a cruel, wicked nation, who depeopled the country 
around them. (These were the Spaniards.) We told them 
that we were at war with that people; when the news of this 
spread through the village called that of the Kironas, all 
vied with each other in welcoming us, pressing us to stay, 
and go to war with the Spaniards of Mexico. We put them 
off with fair words, and made a strict alliance with them, 
promising to return with more numerous troops ; then after 
many feasts and presents, they carried us over the river in 
periaguas. 

As we constantly held on our way to the east, through 
beautiful prairies, a misfortune befell us after three days' 
march. Our Indian hunter Nika suddenly cried out with all 
his might, " I am dead ! " We ran up and learned that he 
had been cruelly bitten by a snake; this accident stopped 
us for several days. We gave him some orvietan, and ap- 
plied viper's salt on the wound after scarifying it to let out 
the poison and tainted blood; he was at last saved. 

Some days after we had many other alarms. Having 
reached a large and rapid river, which we were told ran to 
the sea, and which we called Misfortune* river, we made a 
raft to cross ; the sieur de la Salle and Cavelier with a part 
of our people got on ; but scarcely had they got into the cur- 
rent, when by its violence it carried them off with incredible 
rapidity, so that they disappeared almost instantly. I re- 

* This river differs from the Maligne, and is supposed to be the Colo- 
rado of Texas. 



206 NARRATIVE OF FATHER DOUAY. 

mained ashore with part of our men : our hunter was absent, 
having been lost for some days. It was a moment of ex- 
treme anguish for us all, who despaired of ever again seeing 
our guardian-angel, the sieur de la Salle. God vouchsafed to 
inspire me constantly with courage, and I cheered up those 
who remained as well as I could. The whole day was spent 
in tears and weeping, when at nightfall we saw on the oppo- 
site brink La Salle with all his party. We now learned that 
by an interposition of Providence, the raft had been stopped 
by a large tree floating in the middle of the river. This gave 
them a chance to make an effort and get out of the current, 
which would otherwise have carried them out to sea. One 
of his men sprang into the water to catch the branch of a 
tree, and then was unable to get back to the raft. He was a 
Breton named Rut; but he soon after appeared on our side, 
having swam ashore. 

The night was spent in anxiety, thinking how we should 
find means to pass to the other side to join the sieur de la 
Salle. We had not eaten all day, but Providence provided 
for us by letting two eaglets fall from a cedar-tree; we were 
ten at this meal. 

The next day we had to pass; the sieur de la Salle advised 
us to make a raft of canes; the sieur Moranget and I with 
three others, led the way, not without danger, for we went 
under every moment, and I was obliged to put our breviary 
in our* cowl, because it got wet in the sleeve. The sieur 
de la Salle sent two men to swim out and help us push the 

* The Franciscans were founded at a time when commerce was taking 
gigantic steps and men all became inflamed with desires of rapidly 
acquiring wealth. St. Francis arose to counteract this spirit so fatal 
to real Christianity in the heart. Example is the easiest mode of teach- 
ing, and his poor friars rejecting the word mine, showed in their whole 
deportment that contempt of wealth and property which seemed a com- 
ment on the words, " Blessed are the poor in spirit." 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 2.QJ 

canes on, and they brought us safely in. Those who re- 
mained on the other side did not at all like risking it, but 
they had to do it at last, on our making show of packing up 
and continuing our march without them; they then crossed 
at less hazard than we. 

The whole troop except the hunter being now assembled, 
we for two days traversed a thick cane-brake, the sieur de 
la Salle cutting his way with two axes, and the others in 
like manner to break the canes. At last, on the third day, 
our hunter Nika came in loaded with three dried deer, and 
another just killed. The sieur de la Salle ordered a dis- 
charge of several guns to show our joy. 

Still marching east, we entered countries still finer than 
those we had passed, and found tribes that had nothing bar- 
barous but the name; among others we met a very honest 
Indian returning from the chase with his wife and family. 
He presented the sieur de la Salle with one of his horses and 
some meat, invited him and all his party to his cabin; and to 
induce us, left his wife, family, and game, as a pledge, while 
he hastened to the village to announce our coming. Our 
hunter and a servant of the sieur de la Salle accompanied 
him, so that two days after they returned to us with two 
horses loaded with provisions, and several chiefs followed by 
warriors very neatly attired in dressed skins adorned with 
feathers. They came on bearing the calumet ceremoniously, 
and met us three leagues from the village the sieur de la Salle 
was received as if in triumph, and lodged in the great chief's 
cabin. There was a great concourse of people; the young 
men being drawn out and under arms, relieving one another 
night and day, and besides loading us with presents and all 
kinds of provisions. Nevertheless, the sieur de la Salle fear- 
ing lest some of his party might go after the women, en- 
camped three leagues from the village. Here we remained 



208 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER DOUAY. 



three or four days, and bought horses and all that we needed. 
This village, that of the Coenis, is one of the largest and 
most populous that I have seen in America. It is, at least, 
twenty leagues long, not that it is constantly inhabited, but 
in hamlets of ten or twelve cabins, forming cantons each 
with a different name. Their cabins are fine, forty or fifty 
feet high, of the shape of bee-hives. Trees are planted in the 
ground, and united above by the branches, which are cov- 
ered with grass. The beds are ranged around the cabin, three 
or four feet from the ground; the fire is in the middle, 
each cabin holding two families. 

We found among the Ccenis many things which undoubt- 
edly came from the Spaniards, such as dollars,, and other 
pieces of money, silver spoons, lace of every kind, clothes 
and horses. We saw, among other things, a bull from 
Rome, exempting the Spaniards in Mexico from fasting dur- 
ing summer. Horses are common, they gave them to us for 
an axe; one Ccenis offered me one for our cowl, to 1 which he 
took a fancy. 

They have intercourse with the Spaniards through the 
Choumans, their allies, who are always at war with New 
Spain. The sieur de la Salle made them draw on bark a 
map of their country, of that of their neighbors, and of the 
river Colbert, or Mississippi, with which they are ac- 
quainted. They reckoned themselves six days' journey from 
the Spaniards, of whom they gave us so natural a description, 
that we no longer had any doubts on the point, although the 
Spaniards had not yet undertaken to come to their villages, 
their warriors merely joining the Choumans to go war on 
New Mexico. The sieur de la Salle, who perfectly under- 
stood the art of gaining the Indians of all nations, filled these 
with admiration at every moment. Among other things he 
told them, that the chief of the French was the greatest chief 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 200, 

in the world, as high as the sun, and as far above the Span- 
iard as the sun is above the earth. On his recounting the 
victories of our monarch, they burst into exclamations, put- 
ting their hand on their mouth as a mark of astonishment. 
I found them very docile and tractable, and they seized well 
enough what we told them of the truth of a God. 

There were then some Choumans embassadors among 
them, who came to visit us ; I was agreeably surprised to see 
them make the sign of the cross, kneel, clasp their hands, 
raise them from time to time to heaven. They also kissed 
my habit, and gave me to understand that men dressed like 
us instructed tribes in their vicinity, who were only two days' 
march from the Spaniards, where our religious had large 
churches, in which all assembled to pray. They expressed 
very naturally the ceremonies of mass, one of them sketched 
me a painting that he had seen of a great lady, who was 
weeping because her son was upon a cross. He told us that 
the Spaniards butchered the Indians cruelly, and finally that 
if we would go with them, or give them guns, they could 
easily conquer them, because they were a cowardly race, who 
had no courage, and made people walk before them with a 
fan to refresh them in hot weather. 

After remaining here four or five days to recruit, we pur- 
sued our route through the Nassonis, crossing a large river 
which intersects the great Ccenis village. These two nations 
are allies, and have nearly the same character and customs. 

Four or five leagues from there, we had the mortification 
to see that four of our men had deserted under cover of 
night, and retired to the Nassonis ; and, to complete our cha- 
grin, the sieur de la Salle and his nephew, the sieur de Mor- 
anget, were attacked with a violent fever, which brought 
them to extremity. Their illness was long, and obliged us 
to make a long stay at this place, for when the fever, after 



2IO NARRATIVE OF FATHER DOUAY. 

frequent relapses, left them at last, they required a long time 
to recover entirely. 

The length of this sickness disconcerted all our measures, 
and was eventually the cause of the last misfortunes which 
befell us. It kept us back more than two months, during 
which we had to live as we could ; our powder began to run 
out; we had not advanced more than a hundred and fifty 
leagues in a straight line, and some of our people had de- 
serted. In so distressing a crisis the sieur de la Salle re- 
solved to retrace his steps to Fort Louis; all agreed and we 
straightway resumed our route, during which nothing hap- 
pened worth note ; but that, as we repassed the Maligne, one 
of our men was carried off with his raft by a crocodile of 
prodigious length and bulk. 

After a good month's march, in which our horses did us 
good service, we reached the camp on the 17th of October, 
in the same year, 1686, where we were welcomed with all 
imaginable cordiality; but after all, with feelings tinged 
alike with joy and sadness, as each related the tragical 
adventures which had befallen both since we had 
parted. 

It would be difficult to find in history courage more in- 
trepid or more invincible that that of the sieur de la Salle; 
in adversity he was never cast down, and always hoped with 
the help of Heaven to succeed in his enterprises, despite all 
the obstacles that rose against it. 

He remained two months and a half at Saint Louis bay, 
and we visited together all the rivers which empty into it. 
To my own knowledge, I am sure that there are more than 
fifty, all navigable, coming from the west and northwest; 
the place where the fort stands is somewhat sandy; every- 
where else the ground is good. On every side we saw 
prairies on which the grass is, at all seasons of the year, 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 211 

higher than wheat with us. Every two or three leagues is a 
river skirted with oaks, thorn, mulberry, and other trees. 
This kind of country is uniform till within two days' march 
of the Spaniards. 

The fort is built on a little eminence which runs north and 
south; it has the sea on the southwest, vast prairies to the 
west, and on the southwest two small lakes, and woods a 
league in circuit; a river flows at its foot. The neighboring 
nations are the Quoaquis, who raise Indian corn, and have 
horses cheap, the Bahamos, and the Quinets, wandering 
tribes with whom we are at war. During this time, the 
sieur de la Salle forgot nothing to console his little infant 
colony, in which the families began to increase by births. 
He advanced greatly the clearing of land, and the erection of 
buildings ; the sieur de Chef deville, priest, the sieur Cavelier, 
and we three Recollects, laboring in concert for the edifica- 
tion of the French, and of some Indian families who with- 
drew from the neighboring nations to join us. During all 
this time the sieur de la Salle did his utmost to render the 
Indians less hostile; peace with them being of the utmost 
consequence for the establishment of the colony. 

At last Monsieur de la Salle resolved to resume his Ilinois 
voyage, so necessary for his plans; he made an address full 
of eloquence, with that engaging way so natural to him; the 
whole colony was present, and were almost moved to tears, 
persuaded of the necessity of his voyage, and the uprightness 
of his intentions. Would to God that all had persevered in 
these sentiments ! He completed the fortification of a great 
enclosure, encircling all the habitations and the fort, after 
which he chose twenty men, the sieur Cavelier, his brother, 
the sieurs Moranget and Cavelier, his nephews, with the 



212 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER DOUAY. 



sieur Jputel,* pilot and myself. After public prayers we set 
out on the 7th of January, 1687.1 

* Joutel was not in the previous excursion of the Cenis, of which the 
missionary's is the only account. 

t The fate of the party left in the fort is involved in some obscurity; 
it is certain that they were killed by the Indians. The period of this 
disaster seems to have been some time after La Salle's departure. The 
Spanish account of the fate of La Salle's colony in Texas, from the 
Ensayo Cronologico of Barcia (p. 294), is as follows: — 

In the month of January, 1689, Don Alonso de Leon set out from 
the province of Quaguila (Coahuila), with some horses, marching north 
of the sea, crossing great mountains, and the river which runs near 
Valladolid, and those of* Sauceda, Nasas, Salinas, the river Florido, 
and others, to Caovil, a Spanish town in New Mexico, which is also 
called Calhuila; he then turned to his right, and crossing the Rio 
Bravo (which is also called Del Norte, or Rio Verde, and rises in the 
lake of the Canibas) below Fort St. John, he entered the province of 
the Quelanhubeches and Bahamos Indians, and in the interior of the 
country, came in his opinion to the bay, called St. Bernard's ; it had 
many estuaries and several large rivers flowed into it. The French 
called it St. Louis Bay. He arrived at the fort which Robert de la 
Salle had built with palisades, and ship timbers: he reconnoitred it, 
and found nothing there but the dead bodies of some foreigners, inside 
and outside the fort, killed by arrows and blows, and eighteen iron 
cannon on navy gun carriages. 

The destruction he witnessed excited his greatest compassion, and, 
as the novelty of Don Alonso's squadron had congregated many In- 
dians, he asked them the motive of that deed, but the Indians, 
who had perpetrated it, pretended not to understand his signs, 
and showed by others that, if any one knew the whole matter, it would 
be five companions of the deceased, who were sick, in the province of 
the Tejas, a hundred leagues distant; that they would go and inform 
them; and although Don Alonso ascertained that the Indians of the 
neighborhood had conspired and put to death all the French, reserving 
only two children, burning the powder, destroying the arms, and carry- 
ing off all they could, and then celebrating the victory in all their 
towns with great feastings and dances they constantly denied having 
any hand in the slaughter. 

Such was the end of Fort St. Louis, which cost the unhappy Robert 
de la Salle so much toil and anxiety. Don Alonso could not then 
ascertain whether there had been any motive for this cruelty, beyond 
the hatred of the Indians, or whether the French had given any cause ; 
nor did he deem it prudent to examine the Indians more closely, as he 
saw by their looks that, were he not accompanied by so well-appointed 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 213 



The very first day we met an army of Bahamos going to 
war with the Erigoanna; the sieur de la Salle made an al- 
and well-armed a body of cavalry, prepared to meet them, they would 
have closed the tragedy with the Spaniards. 

At the close of May Tonty knew it, being then one day's march from 
the Palaquesones he states that the French of Fort St. Louis, being 
unable to keep together, had either mixed with the Indians, or started 
for French posts, and that, without examining further, he returned to 
Illinois. 

In order to deliver the five Frenchmen who were among the Tejas, 
Don Alonso accepted the proposal made to inform them. He accord- 
ingly wrote to them in French, by means of an interpreter, telling 
them, with many kind expressions, that, having heard of the shipwreck, 
and peril of their companions, he had come by order of the viceroy of 
New Spain, to deliver them from the slavery of those savages, and 
save their lives; that he regretted extremely his having known the 
misfortune of their companions so late, as to have been unable to come 
more speedily, and prevent the murders which the Indians had perpe- 
trated on them; that if they chose to come to him, he would free 
them, and treat them as became a Christian and a gentleman. 

Four Indians carried this letter, and during the few days that it 
took them to return, Don Alonso ordered the French to be buried; 
this the Spaniards did, weeping over this catastrophe, and misfortune, 
and praying most earnestly for the salvation of their souls. This 
shows how ill-informed he was, who edited Joutel's account of La 
Salle's voyage, when he says, at the end, that when La Salle's death 
was known by the Spaniards, they sent a party who carried off the 
garrison of Fort St Louis, and then put them to death, thus de- 
frauding Don Alonso and his soldiers of the meed their piety deserved, 
by so ungrateful and notorious a falsehood. 

The Indians arrived, with letter, in the province where the five 
Frenchmen were; when they had read it, their opinions as to it were 
divided. Three said that they could not believe that the Indians had 
killed their companions, and destroyed the fort; that it must have 
been the Spaniards, who now called them to do the same with them. 
" For why," they added, " can we expect a better fate, did we come 
into this country to do them any good? If they do not treat us as 
usurpers of territories they have occupied this many years, for having 
come now, without any ground, to despoil them and excite the Indians, 
by peace and war, against them, endeavoring to make them out hor- 
rible and abominable, by pretending cruelties, inventing tyrannies, and- 
describing slaughters that never took place at least they will treat 
us as robbers and pirates." 

James Grollet, and John Larcheveque, of Bordeaux, endeavored to 



214 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER DOUAY. 



liance with them. He wished also to treat with the Quinets, 
who fled at our approach; but having overtaken them by 
means of our horses, we treated them so kindly that they 
promised an inviolable peace. 

The fourth day, three leagues further to the northeast, we 

moderate their comrades' fears, saying that, " if the Spaniards had 
killed the French, the Indians of the country put to flight will relate 
the story, and will not confirm the bearers of the letter, and its con- 
tents ; that they did not, and could not have anything to do with usurpa- 
tion of countries, nor piracies, as a body of soldiers coming with their 
officers, would always go where their king sends them, and that the 
greatest evil would be, that they would be sent prisoners to Mexico. 
And how much better," said they, " live among Christians, even as 
slaves, than among these savages, exposed to the whim of their 
cruelty, and risking, or abandoning their salvation. If we were to 
invite the Spaniards, and they came under assurance of life, would 
we butcher them, without their giving fresh cause for their destruc- 
tion? No. Why then should we presume that their feelings will be 
unlike ours ? " Finding, however, that the more they argued, the more 
obstinate the others became, Grollet and Larcheveque came with the 
four Indians without any suspicion. 

They all reached Don Alonso, who ordered the Indians to be re- 
warded for their diligence, and the two Frenchmen to be supplied with 
necessary food and clothing. Following his instructions, he ques- 
tioned them on different points, and taking them into his company, re- 
turned to Quaguila by May without meeting any accident on the way. 

He informed the viceroy of all that he had seen, observed, or dis- 
covered, and sent him Grollet and Larcheveque, directing those who 
conducted them to treat them well. They arrived and delivered the 
viceroy the letters of Don Alonso. Before interrogating the French- 
men at all, he summoned Don Andres de Pes, as a person so well in- 
formed in the matter, and then, in the presence of both the French- 
men, stated La Salle's voyage in search of the mouth of the river Mis- 
sissippi, his landing in St. Bernard's Bay, the building of the fort, the 
reason of their being among the Tejas, and other matters. 

By the letters and statements made by Don Alonso, and the infor- 
mation elsewhere acquired, they saw the great injury to be done to 
New Spain by this project of the French, already, though unsuccess- 
fully, attempted. The viceroy asked Don Andres de Pes to go to Spain, 
to represent the danger, and the great advantage of fortifying Pensa- 
cola. Don Andres, having obtained the necessary instructions, set out 
with the two Frenchmen, and embarking at Vera Cruz, reached Cadiz 
safely on the 9th of December. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 21 5 

came to the first Cane river. Our route lay through prairies, 
with scattered 1 groves; the soil is so good that the grass 
grows ten or twelve feet high. There are on this river many 
populous villages; we visited only the Quaras and the Ana- 
choremas. 

In the same direction, three leagues further, we came to 
the second Cane river, inhabited by different tribes; here 
we found fields of hemp. 

Five leagues further, we passed the Sandy river, so called 
from the sandy strip along it, though all the rest is good land 
and vast prairies. 

We march seven or eight leagues to Robec river, passing 
through prairies, and over three or four rivers, a league from 
one another. Robec river has many populous villages, where 
the people have a language so guttural, that it would require 
a long time to form ourselves to it. They are at war with the 
Spaniards, and pressed us earnestly to join their warriors; 
but there was no hope of keeping us. We stayed, however, 
five or six days with them, endeavoring to gain them by pres- 
ents and Christian instruction, a thing they do not get from 
the Spaniards. 

Continuing our route, we crossed great prairies to the Ma- 
ligne. This deep river, where one of our men had been de- 
voured by a crocodile, comes from a great distance, and is 
inhabited by forty populous villages, which compose a nation 
called the Quanoatinno; they make war on the Spaniards, 
and lord it over the neighboring tribes. We visited some of 
these villages ;* they are a good people, but always savage, 
the cruelty of the Spaniards rendering them still more fierce. 
As they found us of a more tractable nature, they were 
charmed with our nation; but after these mutual presents, 

* Joutel says they merely heard of the Canohatino, and calls them 
afterward enemies of the Cenis. 

20 



2l6 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER DOUAY. 



we had to part. They gave us horses cheap, and carried us 
over their river in hide canoes. 

In the same direction, after four leagues of similar land, 
extremely fertile, we crossed Hiens river on rafts; then turn- 
ing north-northeast, we had to cross a number of little rivers 
and ravines, navigable in winter and spring. The land is di- 
versified with prairies, hills, and numerous springs. Here we 
found three large villages, the Taraha, Tyakappan, and 
Palona, who have horses. Some leagues further on, we came 
to the Palaquesson* composed of ten villages, allies of the 
Spaniards. 

After having passed these nations, the most disheartening 
of all our misfortunes overtook us. It was the murder of 
Monsieur de la Salle, of the sieur de Moranget, and of some 
others. Our prudent commander finding himself in a coun- 
try full of game, after all the party had recruited and lived 
for several days on every kind of good meat, sent the sieur 
Moranget, his lackey Saget, and seven or eight of his people, 
to a place where our hunter, the Shawnee Nika, had left a 
quantity of buffalo meat (boeuf) to dry, so as not to be 
obliged to stop so often to hunt. 

The wisdom of Monsieur de la Salle had not been able to 
foresee the plot which some of his people would make to 
slay his nephew, as they suddenly resolved to do, and actual- 
ly did on the 17th of March, by a blow of an axe, dealt by 
one whom charity does not permit me to name (Liotot). 
They also killed the valet of the sieur de la Salle, and the 
Indian Nika, who at the risk of his life, had supported them 
for more than three years. The sieur de Moranget lingered 
for about two hours, giving every mark of a death precious 

* According to Joutel, Hist. Coll. of Louisiana, vol. i., p. 147. Pala- 
quechaune was an Indian, whose tribe were allies of the Cenis, and who 
knew the Choumans, the friends of the Spaniards. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 217 

in the sight of God, pardoning his murderers, and embracing 
them; and making acts of sorrow and contrition, as they 
themselves assured us, after they recovered from their unhap- 
py blindness. He was a perfectly honest man, and a good 
Christian, confessing every week or fortnight on our march. 
I have every reason to hope that God has shown him mercy. 

The wretches resolved not to stop here; and not satisfied 
with this murder, formed a design of attempting their com- 
mander's life, as they had reason to fear his resentment and 
chastisement. We were full two leagues off ; the sieur de la 
Salle, troubled at the delay of the sieur de Moranget and his 
people, from whom he had been separated now for two or 
three days, began to fear that they had been surprised by the 
Indians. Asking me to accompany him, he took two Indians 
and set out. All the way he conversed with me of matters 
of piety, grace, and predestination ; expatiating on all his ob- 
ligations to God for having saved him from so many dangers 
during the last twenty years that he had traversed America. 
He seemed to me peculiarly penetrated with a sense of God's 
benefits to him. Suddenly I saw him plunged into a deep 
melancholy, for which he himself could not account; he was 
so troubled that I did not know him any longer; as this state 
was far from being usual, I roused him from his lethargy. 
Two leagues after we found the bloody cravat of his lackey; 
he perceived two eagles flying over his head, and at the same 
time discovered some of his people on the edge of the river, 
which he approached, asking them what had become of his 
nephew. They answered us in broken words, showing us 
where we should find him. We proceeded some steps along 
the bank to the fatal spot, where two of these murderers were 
hidden in the grass, one on each side with guns cocked ; one 
missed Monsieur de la Salle, the one firing at the same time 



2l8 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER DOUAY. 



shot him in the head; he died an hour after, on the 19th of 
March, 1687. 

I expected the same fate, but this danger did not oc- 
cupy my thoughts, penetrated with grief at so cruel a spec- 
tacle, I saw him fall a step from me, with his face all full of 
blood ; I watered it with my tears, exhorting him, to the best 
of my power, to die well. He had confessed and fulfilled his 
devotions just before we started; he had still time to recapit- 
ulate a part of his life, and I gave him absolution. During 
his last moments he elicited all the acts of a good Christian, 
grasping my hand at every word I suggested, and especially 
at that of pardoning his enemies. Meanwhile his murderers, 
as much alarmed as I, began to strike their breasts, and de- 
test their blindness. I could not leave the spot when he had 
expired without having buried him as well as I could, after 
which I raised a cross over his grave.* 

Thus died our wise commander, constant in adversity, in- 
trepid, generous, engaging, dexterous, skilful, capable of 
everything. He who for twenty years had softened the fierce 
temper of countless savage tribes, was massacred by the 
hands of his own domestics, whom he had loaded with 
caresses. He died in the prime of life, in the midst of his 
course and labors, without having seen their success. 

Occupied with these thoughts, which he had himself a 
thousand times suggested to us, while relating the events of 
the new discoveries, I unceasingly adored the inscrutable de- 
signs of God in this conduct of his providence, uncertain still 
what fate he reserved for us, as our desperadoes plotted noth- 
ing less than our destruction. We at last entered a place 
where Monsieur Cavelier was ; the assassins entered the cabin 
unceremoniously, and seized all that was there. I had ar- 

* This and the circumstances of Moranget's death, are denied by 
Joutel in Hist. Coll. of Louisiana, vol. i. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 2ig 

rived a moment before them ; I had no need to speak, for as 
soon as he beheld my countenance all bathed in tears, the 
sieur Cavelier exclaimed aloud. "Ah! my poor brother is 
dead ! " This holy ecclesiastic, whose virtue has been so 
often tried in the apostolic labors of Canada, fell at once on 
his knees, his nephew, the sieur Cavelier, myself, and some 
others did the same, to prepare to die the same death, but 
the wretches touched by some sentiments of compassion at 
the sight of the venerable old man, and besides half penitent 
for the murders they had committed, resolved to spare us, on 
condition that we should never return to France; but as they 
were still undecided, and many of them wished to return 
home, we heard them often say, that they must get rid of us ; 
that otherwise we would accuse them before the tribunals, if 
we once had them in the kingdom. 

They elected as chief the murderer of the sieur de la Salle 
(Duhaut), and, at last, after many deliberations, resolved to 
push on to that famous nation of the Coenis. Accordingly, 
after marching together for several days, crossing rivers and 
rivers, everywhere treated by these wretches as servants, 
having nothing but what they left, we reached the tribe with- 
out accident. 

Meanwhile the justice of God accomplished the punish- 
ment of these men, in default of human justice. Jealousy 
and desire of command arose between Hiens and the sieur de 
la Salle's murderer; each one of the guilty band sided on 
one side or the other. We had passed the Coenis, after some 
stay there, and were already at the Nassonis, where the four 
deserters, whom I mentioned in the first expedition, rejoined 
us. On the eve of Ascension seeing all together, and our 
wretches resolved to' kill each other, I made them an exhor- 
tation on the festival, at which they seemed effected, and re- 
solved to confess ; but this did not last. Those who most re- 



220 NARRATIVE OF FATHER DOUAY. 

gretted the murder of their commander and leader, had sided 
with Hiens who, seizing his opportunity two days after, 
sought to punish crime by crime. In our presence he shot 
the murderer of La Salle through the heart with a pistol; he 
died on the spot, unshriven, unable even to utter the names 
of Jesus and Mary. Another who was with Hiens, shot the 
murderer of the sieur de Moranget (Liotot), in the side with 
a musket-ball. He had time to confess, after which a French- 
man fired a blank cartridge at his head; his hair, and then 
his shirt, and clothes, took fire and wrapped him, in flames, 
and in this torment he expired. The third author of the plot 
and murder fled; Hiens wished to make way with him, and 
thus completely avenge the death of the sieur de la Salle, 
but the sieur Joutel conciliated them, and it stopped there.* 
By this means Hiens remained chief of the wretched 
band; we had to return to> the Coenis where they had re- 
solved to settle, not daring to return to France for fear of 
punishment. 

A Ccenis army was ready to march against the Kanoatino, 
a hostile tribe, cruel to their enemies, whom they boil alive; 
the Coenis took our Frenchmen with them, after which Hiens 
pressed us strongly to remain with them, but we could not 
consent. Six of us, all French, accordingly set out from the 
Coenis, among whom were the sieurs Cavelier uncle and 
nephew, and the sieur Joutel. They gave us each a horse, 
powder and lead, and some goods to pay our way. We 
stopped at the Nassonis to celebrate the octave of Corpus 
Christi. They spoke to us daily of the cruelty of the Span- 
iards to the Americans, and told us that twenty Indian na- 

* This was Larcheveque, Hist. Coll. of Louisiana, vol. i., p. 158. 
With Grollet who had deserted from La Salle on his first excursion, he 
surrendered to a Spanish party under Don Alonzo de Leon. See 
extract from the Ensayo Cronologico. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 221 

tions were going to war against the Spaniards, inviting us to 
join them, as we would do more with our guns than all their 
braves with their warclubs and arrows ; but we had very dif- 
ferent designs. We only took occasion to tell them that we 
came on behalf of God to instruct them in the truth and save 
their souls. In this we spent ten or twelve days, till the 3d 
of June, the feast of St. Anthony of Padua whom the sieur 
de la Salle had taken as patron of his enterprise. 

Having received two Indians to guide us, we continued our 
way north-northeast, through the finest country in the world; 
we passed four large rivers and many ravines, inhabited by 
many different nations; we reconnoitred the Haquis on the 
east, the Nabiri, and Naansi, all numerous tribes at war with 
the Ccenis, and at last, on the 23d of June, we approached 
the Cadodacchos.* One of our Indians went on to announce 
our coming; the chiefs and youth whom we met a league 
from the village, received us with the calumet, which they 
gave us to smoke; some led our horses by the bridle, others 
as it were, carried us in triumph, taking us for spirits and 
people of another world. 

All the village being assembled, the women, as is their 
wont, washed our head and feet with warm water, and then 
placed us on a platform covered with a very neat, white mat; 
then followed banquets, calumet-dances, and other public re- 

* These were, doubtless, the Caddoes, a tribe which is not yet ex- 
tinct. According to Joutel, Hist. Coll. of Louisiana, vol. i., p. 168, the 
tribe consisted of four allied villages, Assony, Nathosos, Nachitos, and 
Cadodaquio. Tonty describes them as forming three villages, Cado- 
daquis, Nachitoches, and Nasoui, all on the Red river, and speaking 
the same language. Two of these tribes, the Nasoui and Nachitoches 
bear a strong resemblance to the tribes found by Muscoso, the suc- 
cessor of De Soto, in the same vicinity, and called by Biedma, Nissione 
(Hist. Coll. of Louisiana, vol. iii., p. 107), and by the gentleman of 
Elvas Nissoone and Naquiscoza, while the Daycao, as their river is 
called is not incompatible with Cado-Daquio. — Hist. Coll. of Louisiana, 
vol. iii., p. 201. 



222 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER DOUAY. 



joicings, day and night. The people knew the Europeans 
only by report; like other tribes through which we had 
passed, they have some very confused ideas of religion and 
adore the sun ; their gala dresses bear two painted suns ; on 
the rest of the body are representations of buffalo, stags, ser- 
pents, and other animals. This afforded us an opportunity to 
give them some lessons on the knowledge of the true God, 
and on our principal mysteries. 

At this place it pleased God to traverse us by a tragical 
accident. The sieur de Marne, in spite of all that we could 
say, went to bathe on the evening of the 24th, the younger 
sieur Cavelier accompanied him to the river side, quite near 
the village; de Marne sprang into the water and instantly 
disappeared. It was an abyss where he was in a moment 
swallowed up. A' few hours after his body was recovered 
and brought to the chief's cabin; all the village mourned his 
death with all ceremony; the chief's wife herself neatly 
wound him in a beautiful cloth, while the young men dug 
the grave which I blessed the next day, when we buried him 
with all possible solemnity. The Indians admired our cere- 
monies, from which we took occasion to give them some in- 
struction during the week that we remained in this fatal 
place. Our friend was interred on an eminence near the vil- 
lage, and his tomb surrounded by a palisade, surmounted 
by a large cross, which we got the Indians to raise, after 
which we started on the 2d of July. 

This tribe is on the banks of a large river, on which lie 
three more famous nations, the Natchoos, the Natchites, the 
Ouidiches, where we were very hospitably received. From 
the Coenis river, where we began to find beaver and otter, 
they became very plentiful as we advanced. At the Ouidi- 
ches, we met three warriors of two tribes called the Cahinnio 
and the Mentous, twenty-five leagues further east-northeast, 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 223 

who had seen Frenchmen. They offered to guide us there, 
and on our way we passed four rivers on rafts. We were 
received with the calumet of peace, and every mark of joy 
and esteem.* Many of these Indians spoke to us of a great 
captain, who had only one arm (this was Monsieur de Tonty ) 
whom they had seen, and who told them that a greater cap- 
tain than he would pass through their village; this was Mon- 
sieur de la Salle. 

The chief lodged us in his cabin, from which he made his 
family retire. We were here regaled for several days on 
every kind of meat; there was even a public feast, where the 
calumet was danced for twenty-four hours, with songs made 
for the occasion, which the chief intoned with all his might, 
treating us as people of the sun, who came to defend them 
from their enemies by the noise of our thunder. Amidst 
these rejoicings the younger Cavelier fired his pistol three 
times, crying " Vive le roi," which the Indians repeated 
loudly, adding, " Vive le soleil." These Indians have pro- 
digious quantities of beaver and otter skins, which could be 
easily tranported by a river near the village; they wished to 
load our horses with them, but we refused, to show our disin- 
terestedness ; we made them presents of axes and knives, and 
set out with two Cahinnio to act as guides, after having re- 
ceived embassies from the Analao and Tanico, and other 
tribes to the northwest and southeast. It was delightful to 
traverse for several days the finest country, intersected 
by many rivers,, prairies, little woods, and vine-clad hills. 
Among others, we passed four large navigable rivers, and at 
last after a march of about sixty leagues, we reached the 
Osotteoez, who dwell on a great river which comes from the 

* Joutel calls this village Cahaynahoua. See Joutel's journal pub- 
lished in French's Historical Collections of Louisiana, vol. i., pp. 85- 
193- 



224 NARRATIVE OF FATHER DOUAY. 

northwest, skirted by the finest woods in the world. Beaver 
and otter-skins, and all kinds of peltries, are so abundant 
there, that being of no value they burn them in heaps. 
This is the famous river of the Achansa, who here form 
several villages. At this point we began to know where we 
were, and finding a large cross, bearing below the royal 
arms,, with a French-looking house, our people discharged 
their guns ; two Frenchmen at once came forth, and the one 
in command, by name Couture, told us that the sieur de 
Tonty had stationed them there to serve as an intermediate 
station to the sieur de la Salle, to maintain the alliance with 
those tribes, and to shield them against attacks by the Iro- 
quois. We visited three of these villages, the Torimans, the 
Doginga, and the Kappa; everywhere we had feasts, 
harangues, calumet-dances, with every mark of joy; we 
lodged at the French house, where the two gentlemen treated 
us with all desirable hospitality, putting all at our disposal. 
Whenever any affairs are to be decided among these nations, 
they never give their resolution on the spot ; they assemble the 
chiefs and old men, and deliberate on the point in question. 
We had asked a periagua and Indians to ascend the river 
Colbert, and thence to push on to the Ilinois by the river 
Seignelay, offering to leave them our horses, powder, and 
lead ; when the council was held, it was said that they would 
grant us the periagua, and four Indians to be selected, one 
from each tribe, in token of a more strict alliance. This was 
faithfully executed,, so that we dismissed our Cahinnio with 
presents, which perfectly satisfied them. 

At last, after some time stay, we embarked on the ist of 
August, 1687, on the river Colbert, which we crossed the 
same day in our periagua forty feet long; but as the current 
is strong, we all landed to make the rest of our journey on 
foot, having left our horses and equipage at the Akansa. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 225 

There remained in the canoe only the sieur Cavelier whose 
age, joined to the hardships he had already undergone on 
the way, did not permit him to accomplish on foot the rest 
of our course (at least four hundred leagues), to the Ilinois. 
One Indian was in the canoe to perch it along, one of his 
comrades relieving him from time to time. As for the rest 
of us, we used the periagua only when necessary to cross 
some dangerous passages or rivers. All this was not with- 
out much suffering; for the excessive heat of the season, the 
burning sand, the broiling sun, heightened by a want of pro- 
visions for several days, gave us enough to endure. 

We had already travelled two hundred and fifty leagues 
across the country from St. Louis bay, viz. : one hundred 
leagues to the Ccenis (sixty north-northeast, the last forty 
east-northeast) ; from the Ccenis to the Nassonis, twenty- 
five to the east-northeast; from the Nassonis to the Cado- 
dacchos, forty to the north-northeast; from the Cadodac- 
chos to the Cahinnio and Mentous, twenty-five to the east- 
northeast; from the Cahinnio to the Akansa, sixty to the 
east-northeast. 

We then continued our route, ascending the river through 
the same places which the sieur de la Salle had previously 
passed when he made his first discovery, of which I have 
heard him frequently speak, except that we went to the Sica- 
cha, where he had not been. The principal village is twenty- 
five leagues east of the Akansa. This nation is very numer- 
ous; they count at least four thousand warriors, have an 
abundance of every kind of peltry. The chiefs came several 
times to offer us the calumet, wishing to form an alliance 
with the French and put themselves under their protection, 
offering even to come and dwell on the river Ouabache 
(Ohio) to be nearer to us. 

This famous river is full as large as the river Colbert, 



226 NARRATIVE OF FATHER DOUAY. 

receiving a quantity of others by which you can enter it. 
The mouth, where it empties into the river Colbert, is two 
hundred leagues from the Akansa, according to the estimate 
of the sieur de la Salle, as he often told me; or two hundred 
and fifty, according to Monsieur de Tonty, and those who 
accompanied him in his second voyage to the sea, not that it 
is that distance in a straight line across the prairies, but fol- 
lowing the river which makes great turns, and winds a great 
deal,, for by land it would not be more than five days' good 
march. 

We crossed the Ouabache then on the 26th of August, 
and found it full sixty leagues to the mouth of the river 
Ilinois, still ascending the Colbert. About six leagues above 
this mouth, there is on the northwest the famous river of 
the Massourites or Osages, at least as large as the river 
into which it empties; it is formed by a number of other 
known rivers,, everywhere navigable, and inhabited by many 
populous tribes ; as the Panimaha who had but one chief and 
twenty-two villages, the least of which has two hundred 
cabins; the Paneassa, the Pana, the Paneloga, and the Mato- 
tantes, each of which, separately, is not inferior to the Pani- 
maha. They include also the Osages who have seventeen vil- 
lages on a river of their name, which empties into that of the 
Massourites, to which the maps have also extended the 
name of Osages. The Akansas were formerly stationed on 
the upper part of one of these rivers, but the Iroquois drove 
them out by cruel wars some years ago, so that they, with 
some Osage villages, were obliged to drop down and settle 
on the river which now bears their name, and of which I 
have spoken. 

About midway between the river Ouabache and that of 
the Massourites is Cape St. Anthony. It was to this place 
only and not further that the sieur Joliet descended in 1673; 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 227 

they were there taken, with their whole party, by the Manso- 
pela. These Indians having told them that they would be 
killed if they went further; they turned back, not having 
descended lower than thirty or forty leagues below the 
mouth of the Ilinois' river. 

I had brought with me the printed book of this pretended 
discovery, and I remarked all along my route that there was 
not a word of truth in it. It is said that he went as far as the 
Akansa, and that he was obliged to return for fear of being 
taken by the Spaniards ; and yet the Akansa assured us that 
they had never seen any Europeans before Monsieur de la 
Salle. It is said that they saw painted monsters that the 
boldest would have difficulty to look at, and that there was 
something supernatural about them. This frightful monster 
is a horse painted on a rock with Matachia,* and some other 
wild beasts made by the Indians. It is said that they can 
not be reached, and yet I touched them without difficulty. 
The truth is that the Miamis,, pursued by the Matsigamea, 
having been drowned in the river, the Indians ever since 
that time present tobacco to these grotesque figures when- 
ever they pass, in order to appease the manitou. 

I would not be inclined to think that the sieur Joliet 
avowed the printed account of that discovery which is not, 
in fact, under his name, and was not published till after the 
first discovery made by the sieur de la Salle. It would be 
easy to show that it was printed only on false memoirs, 
which the author, who had never been on the spot, might 
have followed in good faith, t 

* An old term for paint used by the Indians. 

t In this short passage a heavy charge is brought against the nar- 
rative of Father Marquette, although it is amusing to see how they 
all, in denying it, seem to have dreaded to mention his name, as 
though his injured spirit would have been evoked by the word. 



228 



NARRATIVE OF FATHER DOUAY. 



At last, on the 5th of September, we arrived at the mouth 
of the Ilinois' river, whence they reckon at least a hundred 
leagues to Fort Crevecceur,, the whole route presenting a 
very easy navigation. A Shawnee named Turpin, hav- 
ing perceived us from his village, ran on to the fort to 
carry the news to the sieur de Belle Fontaine, the com- 
mander, who would not credit it; we followed close on the 
Indian, and entered the fort on the 14th of September. We 
were conducted to the chapel where the Te Deum was 
chanted in thanksgiving, amid the noise and volleys of the 
French and Indians who were immediately put under arms. 
The sieur de Tonty, the governor of the fort, had gone to 
the Iroquois to conciliate the minds of those Indians, we, 

As Father Anastasius says expressly, that there is not a word of 
truth in it, we may examine the grounds which he adduces. 

Tst It was not published till after the discovery made by La Salle. 
This is incorrect. Thevenot published Marquette's journal from a 
mutilated copy, in 1681, and La Salle reached the mouth of the Missis- 
sippi only in April, 1682, while his discovery was not known in France 
before January 1683. 

2d. The Arkansas said that they had never seen any European before 
La Salle. Making every allowance for the difficulty of conversing with 
a tribe whose language was utterly unknown to him, and admitting the 
fact, it remains to show that the Arkansas whom he met, were the same 
as those visited by Marquette. This does not appear to be certain, as 
they were on different sides of the Mississippi. 

3d. The painted rock, of which he exaggerates and refutes Mar- 
quette's account Now, though Father Anastasius had the book of the 
pretended discovery in his hand, he did not read it carefully. Mar- 
quette describes a rock above the mouth of the Missouri, Anastasius 
saw another below the mouth, and half way between it and the Ohio, 
and, as it did not answer Marquette's account, there is not a word of 
truth in his book! Joutel, whose work appeared only in 1713, avoid 
this difficulty, whether conscious of Douay's error, we do not know. 
From the words of Father Anastasius, I am inclined to think, that they 
never saw Marquette's rock; but deceived by Thevenot's map which 
gives a figure and the word Manitou at the place below the Missouri, 
which Marquette mentions as the demon of the Illinois, mistook it 
for the painted rock. Here as Father Anastasius tells, some Indians 
actually perished, and their countrymen supposing them engulfed by 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 229 



nevertheless, received a very cordial welcome; the com- 
mandant neglecting nothing to show his joy at our arrival, 
to console us in our misfortunes, and restore us after our 
hardships. 

Although the season was advanced, we had, nevertheless, 
set out in hopes of reaching Quebec soon enough to sail to 
France; but head-winds having detained us a fortnight at 
the entrance of Lake Dauphin, we had to give it over and 
winter at the fort, which we made a mission till the spring 
of 1688. 

The sieur de Tonty arrived there at the beginning of win- 
ter with several Frenchmen; this made our stay much more 
agreeable, as this brave gentleman was always inseparably 

some demon, propagated the belief in the existence of one there. This 
i worshipping of rapids was common, and several cases are mentioned 

in the narratives of the time. As to the exaggerations made of Mar- 
quette's account, a moment's examination will show that he repre- 
sented the figures he saw as terrible to superstitious Indians, and so 
high up on the rock that it was not easy up there to paint them. 
His estimate of the skill displayed is, indeed, too high; but there is 
nothing, beyond this, strange in his account. 

4. Last of all, comes his positive assertion that Marquette and Joliet 
went only as far as Cape St. Anthony, thirty or forty leagues below 
the mouth of the Illinois. For this he gives no authority; but it may 
be inferred that he found the Mansopelas there, and from his little 
knowledge of the Indians, concluded that being there, in 1687, they 
must have been there in 1673, and consequently, that Marquette went 
no further. 

Enough, however, is here admitted to convict the author of the 
Etablissement de la Foi of injustice to Marquette, whom he never 
names, but who, even by their own statements, descended the Missis- 
sippi to the Mansopelas, many years before La Salle's expedition. Yet 
in the previous part of the work no mention at all is made of this 
voyage, and no opportunity passed to treat it as pretended in the ac- 
counts of their own. 

Joutel, whose narrative was published subsequently to this, mentions 
(See Hist. Coll. of Louisiana, vol. i., p. 182) Father Marquette, and 
though he saw nothing extraordinary in the painted figures, does not 
make any of the charges here brought by his companion on the voyage 
whom he contradicts directly on two other points. 



23O NARRATIVE OF FATHER DOUAY. 

attached to the interests of the sieur de la Salle, whose 
lamentable fate we concealed from him, it being our duty to 
give the first news to the court. 

He told us, that, at the same time that we were seeking the 
river Missisipi by sea, he had made a second voyage, de- 
scending the river with some French and Indians to the 
mouth, hoping to find us there; that he remained there a 
week, visited all the remarkable points, and remarked that 
there was a very fine port with a beautiful entrance, and 
wide channel; and, also, places fit for building forts, and 
not at all inundated as he had supposed, when he descended 
the first time with the sieur de la Salle; adding, that the 
lower river is habitable and even inhabited by Indian vil- 
lages; that ships can ascend the river a hundred leagues 
above the gulf ; that, besides the tribes which he had discov- 
ered when descending the first time, he had seen several 
others on the second, as the Picheno, the Ozanbogus, the 
Tangibao, the Otonnica, the Mausopelea, the Mouisa, and 
many others which I do not remember. 

Our conversations together confirmed me in the opinion of 
the sieur de la Salle, that St. Louis bay could not be more 
than forty or fifty leagues from the mouth of one of the 
arms of the river Colbert in a straight line, for though we 
struck that river only at the Akansa, it was because we took 
the Ilinois route across the country, God having led us 
through these parts to enable us to discover all those tribes 
which dwell there. 

I had remarked one hundred and ten populous nations on 
my route, not including a great many others of which I 
heard in those through which we passed, who knew them 
either in war, or in trade. The greatest part of these tribes 
are unknown to Europeans. 

These are the finest and most fertile countries in the 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 23 1 

world; the soil, which there produces two crops of every 
kind of grain a year, being ready to receive the plough. 
From time to time there are vast prairies where the grass is 
ten or twelve feet high at all seasons ; at every little distance 
there are rivers entering larger ones, everywhere navigable, 
and free from rapids. On these rivers are forests full of 
every kind of trees, so distributed that you can everywhere 
ride through on horseback. 

The chase is so abundant and easy, especially for wild- 
cattle, that herds of thousands are discovered ; there are deer 
and other animals of the stag kind in numbers, as well as 
turkeys, bustards, partridges,, parrots, rabbits, and hares. 
Poultry are common there, and produce at all seasons, and 
swine several times a year, as we observed at the settlement 
where we left more than two hundred. 

The rivers are unusually abundant in all kinds of fish, so 
much so that we took them at the foot of the fort with our 
hands, without basket or net. Our people one day took 
away from the Indians a fish-head which was alone a load 
for a man. No settler arriving in the country will not find 
at first enough to support plenteously a large family, or will 
not, in two years time be more at his ease than in any place 
in Europe. I have already remarked that horses for every 
use are there very common, the Indians thinking themselves 
well paid when they get an axe for a horse. 

The commerce might be very great there in peltries, to- 
bacco,, and cotton. Hemp grows very fine; and as the fields 
are full of mulberry-trees which also line the rivers, silk 
might be raised in abundance. Sugar-canes would succeed 
there well, and could be easily got by trade with the West 
Indies, as the European nations have done in Terra-firma, 



21 



232 NARRATIVE OF FATHER DOUAY. 

where they are neighbors to Louisiana.* Besides, the great 
quantity of wool which the cattle of the country are loaded, 
the vast prairies everywhere afford means of raising flocks 
of sheep, which produce twice a year. 

The various accidents that befell us, prevented our search- 
ing for the treasures of this country: we found lead quite 
pure, and copper ready to work. The Indians told us that 
there were rivers where silver mines are found: others 
wished to conduct us to a country known to the Spaniards, 
abounding in gold and silver mines. There are also some 
villages where the inhabitants have pearls, which they go 
to seek on the seacoast and find, they say, in oysters. 

We found few nations within a hundred and fifty or two 
hundred leagues of the sea, who are not prejudiced against 
the Spaniards on account of their great cruelty. These 
tribes are all populous; and there is one which, in war, 
would furnish as many as five thousand men. 

The shortness of our stay among these tribes gave us no 
time to lay solid foundations of Christianity; but we re- 
marked good dispositions for the faith ; they are docile, char- 

* These observations from which Coxe (Hist. Coll. of Louisiana, 
vol. iii., pp. 262-65), doubtless, took a hint, entitle Father Douay to 
the credit of pointing out sources of wealth to Louisiana. Cotton and 
sugar are already staple products, and silk may soon be. The valley 
of the Mississippi owes the introduction of the sugar-cane to the 
Catholic missionaries, for the Jesuits brought in some plants from 
which the colony was supplied, after they had shown in their gardens 
at New Orleans how successfully it could be raised. The same mis- 
sionaries were also the first to raise wheat in Illinois, and engage others 
to do so ; as one of their lay-brothers was the first to work the copper- 
mine of Lake Superior, to make articles for the church of Sault St. 
Mary's. In the east they deserve no less a place even in commercial 
history; they not only called the attention of New York to her salt- 
springs, and brought about a commercial intercourse between the 
French of Canada, and the English and Dutch in their colonies, but, 
by showing the identity of our ginseng with that of Tartary, enabled 
France for some time to carry on a very lucrative trade with China. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 233 

itable, susceptible of good impressions; there is even some 
government and subordination, savage though it always be. 
By the help of God, religion might make progress there. 
The sun is their divinity, and they offer it in sacrifice the 
best of their chase in the chief's cabin. They pray for half 
an hour, especially at sunrise; they send him the first whiff 
of their pipes, and then send one to each of the four cardinal 
points. 

I left St. Louis bay on the second voyage to remain among 
the Ccenis and begin a mission there. Here Father Zeno- 
bius was to join me, to visit the neighboring tribes while 
awaiting from France a greater number of gospel laborers, 
but the melancholy death of the sieur de la Salle having 
compelled me to proceed, Father Zenobius no doubt went 
there to meet me, and is, perhaps, there yet with Father 
Maximus (le Clercq), having left M. de Chefdeville at the 
mission in the fort, to which he was destined at our de- 
parture. There were there nine or ten French families, and, 
besides, several of our people had gone to get and had 
actually married Indian women to multiply the colony. 
What has befallen them since, I do not know. 

This, adds le Clercq, is a faithful extract of what Father 
Anastasius could remember of his toilsome voyage. He left 
the Ilinois in the spring of 1688, with M. Cavelier, his 
nephew, the sieur Joutel, and an Indian now domiciled near 
Versailles. They arrived at Quebec on the 27th of July, 
and sailed for France on the 20th of August, where, God 
enabling them to be still together, after having passed 
through so many perils, they presented an account of all to 
the late marquis of Seignelay. 




EE 0 IT 



DES VOYAGES ET DES DEOOUVERTES 

DU 

P. J A CQ UES MAR Q UETTE, 

DE LA COMPAGNIE DE JESUS EN UANNEE 1673, ET AUX SUIVANTES. 



CHAPITRE IER- 

Du Premier Voyage qu'a fait le P. Marquette vers le Nouveau Mexique 
et comment s'en est forme le dessein. 

IL y avoit longtemps que le Pere premeditoit cette entreprise, portS 
d'un tres ardent desir d'estendre le Royaume de J. Ch. et de le 
faire connoistre et adorer par tous les peuples de ce pays. II se voioit 
comme a la porte de ces nouvelles nations, lorsque des l'annee 1670, 
il travailloit en la mission de lapointe du St. Esprit qui est a l'extremite 
du lac Superieur aux Outaoiiacs, il voioit mesme quelquefois plusieurs 
de ces nouveaux peuples, desquels il prenoit toutes les connoissances 
quil pouvoit, c'est ce qui luy a fait faire plusieurs efforts pour com- 
mencer cette entreprise, mais tousiour inutilement, et mesme il avoit 
perdu l'esperance d'en venir about lorsque Dieu luy en fit naistre cette 
occasion. 

En l'annee 1673, M. Le Comte de Frontenac nostre gouverneur, et 
M. Talon alors nostre Intendant, connoissant l'importance de cette 
decouverte, soit pour chercher un passage d'icy jusqu'a la mer de la 
Chine, par le riviere qui se decharge a la mer Vermeille au Califor- 
nie, soit qu'on voulu s'asseurer de ce qu'on a dit du depuis, touchant 
les 2 Royaumes de Theguaio et de Quivira, limitrophes du Canada, 
ou Ton tient que les mines d'or sont abondantes, ces Messieurs, dis- 



236 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



ie, nommerent en mesme temps pour cette entreprise le sieur Jolyet 
quils jugerent tres propres pour un si grand dessein, estant bien aise 
que le P. Marquette fut de le partie. 

II ne se tromperent pas dans le choix quils firent du sieur Jolyet, 
car c'estoit un jeune homme natif de ce pays, qui a pour un tel des- 
sein tous les advantages qu'on peut souhaiter: II a 1' experience et 
le Connoissanee des Langues du Pays des Outaoiiacs, ou il a passe 
plusieurs annees, il a la conduitte et la sagesse qui sont les princi- 
pales parties pour faire reussir un voyage egalement dangereux et 
difficile. Enfin il a le courage pour ne rien apprehender, ou tout 
est a craindre, aussi a-t-il remply l'attente qu'on avoit de luy, et si 
apres avoir passe mille sortes de dangers, il ne fut venu malheur- 
eusement faire nauffrage auport, son canot ayant tourne au dessoubs 
du Sault de St. Louys proche de Montreal, ou il a perdu et ses hommes 
et ses papiers, et d'oul il h'a eschape que par une espece de miracle, 
il ne lassoit rien a souhaiter au succez de son voyage. 



SECTION I. 

Depart du P. Jacques Marquette pour la decouverte de la grande 
Riviere appellee par les sauvages Missisipi qai conduit 
au Nouveau Mexique. 

Le jour de l'lmmaculee Conception de la Ste. Vierge, que Javois 
tous jour invoque depuisque je suis en ce pays des Outaoiiacs, pour 
obtenir de Dieu le grace de pouvoir visiter les nations qui sont sur 
la riviere de Missis-pi, fut justement celuy auquel arriva M. Jollyet 
avec les ordres de M. le comte de Frontenac nostre gouverneur et 
de M. Talon nostre Intendant, pour faire avec moy cette decouverte. 
Je fus d'autant plus ravy de cette bonne nouvelle, que je voiois que 
mes desseins alloient etre accomplis et que je me trouvois dans une 
heureuse necessite d'exposer ma vie pour le salut de tous ces peuples 
et particulierement pour les Ilinois qui m'avoient prie avec beaucoup 
d'instance lorsque j'estois a la pointe du St. Esprit de leur porter 
chez eux la parole de Dieu. 

Nous ne fusmes pas long temps a preparer tout nostre equippage 
quoyque nous nous engageassions en un voyage dont nous ne pouvions 
pas prevoir la duree; du Bled d'Inde avec quelque viande boucanee 
furent toutes nos provisions, avec lesquelles nous nous embarquam- 
mes sur 2 canots d'ecorce, M. Jollyet et moy avec 5 hommes, bien 
resolus a tout faire et a tout souffrir pour une si glorieuse enterprise. 

Ce fut done le I7e jour de May, 1673, que nous partimes de la 
mission de St Ignace a Michilimackinac, ou j'estois pour lors; la 
joye que nous avions d'etre choisis pour cette expedition animoit nos 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 237 



courages et nous rendoit agreables les peines que nous avions a 
ramer depuis le matin jusqu'au soir; et parceque nous allions cher- 
cher des pays inconnus, nous apportammes toutes les precautions 
que nous pumes, affinque si nostre entreprise estoit hazardeuse elle 
ne fut pas temeraire; pour ce sujet nous primes toutes les connois- 
sances que nous pumes des sauvages qui avoient frequente ces en- 
droicts la et mesme nous tracames sur leur raport une carte de tout 
ce nouveau pays, nous y fimes marquer les rivieres sur lesquelles 
nous devions naviger, les noms des peuples et des lieux par lesquels 
nous devions passer, le cours de la grande riviere, et quels rund 
devent nous devions tenir quand nous y serions. 

Surtout je mis nostre voyage soubs la protection de la Ste. Vierge 
Immaculee, luy promettant que si elle nous faisoit la grace de de- 
couvrir la grande riviere, je luy donnerois le nom de la Conception 
et que je ferois aussi porter ce nom a la premiere mission que 
j'etablyrois chez ces nouveaux peuples, ce que j'ay fait de vray chez 
les Ilinois. 



SECTION II. 

Le Pere visite en passant les Peuples de la folle avoine; Ce que c'est 
que cette folle avoine. II entre dans la baye des Puants, quelques 
particularitez de cette baye, il arrive a la nation du feu. 

Avec toutes ces precautions nous faisons joiier joyeusement les 
avirons, sur une partie du Lac Huron, et celuy des Ilinois, et dans la 
baye des Puans. 

Le premiere nation que nous rencontrames, fut celle de la folle 
avoine. I'entray dans leur riviere pour aller visiter ces peuples aus 
quels nous avons presche l'Evangile depuis plusieurs annees, aussi 
se trouve-t-il parmy eux plusieurs bons Chrestiens. 

La folle avoine dont ils portent le nom, parcequelle se trouve sur 
leurs terres est une sorte d'herbe qui croit naturellement dans les 
petites rivieres dont le fond est de vase, est dans les lieux mares- 
ageux; elle est bien semblable a la folle avoine qui croit parmy nos 
bleds. Les epics sont sur des tuyeaux noiies d'espace en espace, ils 
sortent de l'eau vers le mois de juin et vont tousjour montant jusqu'- 
acequils surnagent de deux pieds environ; Le grain n'est pas plus 
gros que celuy de nos avoines, mais il est une fois plus long, aussi la 
farine en est elle bien plus abondante. Voicy comme les sauvages 
la cueillent et la preparent pour la manger. Dans le mois de Sep- 
tembre qui est le terns propre pour cette recolte, ils vont en canot au 
travers de ces champs de folle avoine, ils en secoiient les espies de 
part et d'autre dans le canot, a mesure qu'ils avancent; le grain 



238 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

tombe aisement sil est meur, et en peu de temps ils en font leur pro- 
vision. Mais pour le nettoyer de la paille et le depouiller d'une 
pellicule dans laquelle il est enferme, ils le mettent secher a la 
fumee, sur un gril de bois soubs lequel ils entretiennent un petit feu, 
pendant quelques jours, et lorsque l'avoine est bien seche, ils la 
mettent dans une Peau en forme de pouche, laquelle ils enfoncent 
dans un trou fait a ce dessein en terre, puis ils la pillent avec les pieds, 
tant et si fortement que le grain s'estant separe de la paille, ils le 
varment tres aisement, apres quoy ils le pillent pour le reduire en 
farine; or mesme sans etre pille ils le font cuire dans l'eau, qu'ils 
assaisonnent avec de la graisse et de cette facon on trouve la folle 
avoine presque aussi delicate, qu'est le ris, quand on n'y met pas de 
meilleur assaissonnement. 

Je racontay a ces peuples de la folle avoine, le dessein que j'avois 
d'aller decouvrir ces nations esloignees pour les pouvoir instruire des 
mysteres de nostre Ste. Religion: ils en furent extremement surpris, 
et firent tous leur possible pour m'en dissiiader; ils me representerent 
que je rencontrerois des Nations qui ne pardonnent jamais aux 
estrangers ausquels ils cassent la teste sans aucun sujet; que la guerre 
qui estoit allumee entre divers peuples qui estoient sur nostre Route 
nous exposoit a un autre danger manifeste d'estre tuez par les bandes 
de guerriers qui sont tousjours en campagne; que la grande riviere est 
tres dangereuse, quand on n'en scait pas les Endroicts difficiles, qu'elle 
estoit pleine de monstres effroyables, qui devoroient les hommes et 
les canots tout ensemble; qu'il y a mesme un demon qu'on entend de 
fort loing qui en ferme le passage et qui abysme ceux qui osent en 
approcher, enfin que les chaleurs sont si excessives en ces pays la 
qu'elles nous causeroient la mort infailliblement. 

Je les remerciay de ces bons advis qu'ils me donnoit, mais je leur 
dis que je ne pouvois pas les suivre, puisqu'il s'agissoit du salut des 
ames pour lesquelles je serois ravy de donner ma vie, que je me 
moquois de ce demon pretendu, que nous nous deffenderions bien de 
ces monstres marins, et qu'au reste nous nous tienderions sur nos 
gardes pour eviter les autres dangers dont ils nous menagoient. 
Apres les avoir fait prier Dieu et leur avoir donne quelque Instruc- 
tion, je me separay d'eux, et nous estant embarquez sur nos canots 
nous arrivames peu de temps apres dans le fond de la Baye des 
Puantz, ou nos Peres travaillent utilement a la conversion de ces 
peuples, en ayant baptise plus de deux mille depuis qu'ils y sont. 

Cette baye porte un nom qui n'a pas une si mauvaise signification 
en la langue des sauvages, car ils l'appellent plustost la baye sallee 
que la Baye des Puans, quoyque parmy eux ce soit presque le mesme, 
et c'est aussi le nom qu'ils donnent a la mer; cequi nous a fait faire 
de tres exactes recherches pour decouvrir s'il n'y avoit pas en ces quar- 
tiers quelques fontaines d'eau sallee, comme il y en a parmy les 
hiroquois ; mais nous n'en avons pas trouve nous jugeons done qu'on 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 239 



luy a donne ce nom a cause de quantite de vase et de Boiie, qui s'y 
rencontre, d'ou s'eslevent continuellement de meschantes vapeurs qui 
y causent les plus grands et les plus continuels Tonnerres, que j'aye 
iamais entendu. 

La Baye a environ trente lieiies de profondeur et huict de large en 
son commencement; elle va tousjour se retrecissant jusques dans le 
fond, ou il est aise de remarquer la maree qui a son flux et reflux 
regie presque comme celuy de la Mer. Ce n'est pas icy le lieu d'exami- 
ner si se sont des vrayes marees; si elles sont causees par les vents 
ou par quelqu'autre principe; s'il y a des vents qui sont les avant- 
coureurs de la Lune et attachez a sa suitte, lesquels par consequent 
agitent le lac et luy donnent comme son flux et reflux toutes les fois 
que la Lune monte sur l'horison. Ce que je peux dire de certain est 
que quand l'eau est bien calme, on la voit aisement monter et descendre 
suivant le cours de la lune, quoyque je ne nie pas que ce mouvement 
ne puisse estre cause par les ventz qui sont bien eloignez et qui pesant 
sur le milieu du lac font que les bords croissent et decroissent de la 
fagon qui paroit a nos yeux. 

Nous quittames cette baye pour entrer dans la riviere qui s'y decharge ; 
elle est tres belle en son embouchure et coule doucement; elle est 
pleine d'outardes, de Canards, de cercelles et d'autres oyseaux qui y 
sont attirez par la folle avoine, dont ils sont fort frians, mais quand 
on a un peu avance dans cette riviere, on la trouve tres difficile, tant 
a cause des courants que des Roches affilees, qui couppent les canots 
et les pieds de ceux qui sont obliges de les traisner, surtout quand les 
eaux sont basses. Nous franchimes pourtant heureusement ces 
rapides et en approchant de Machkoutens, le nation du feu, jeu la 
curiosite de boire des eaux mineralles de la riviere qui n'est pas loing 
de cette bourgade, je pris aussi le temps de reconnoistre un simple 
qu'un sauvage qui en scait le secret a enseigne au P. Alloues avec 
beaucoup de ceremonies. Sa racine sert contre la morsure des serpents, 
Dieu ayant voulu donner ce remede contre un venin qui est tres fre- 
quent en ces pays. Elle est fort chaude, et elle a un gout de poudre 
quand on l'escrase sous la dent ; il f aut la mascher et la mettre 
sur la piquurre du serpent, qui en a une si grande horreur, qu'il s'enfuit 
mesme de celuy, qui s'en est frotte, elle produit plusieurs tiges, hautes 
d'un pied, dont la feuille est un peu longue et la fleur blanche et beau- 
coup semblable a la giroflee. J'en mis dans mon canot pour rexaminer 
a loisir pendant que nous avancions tousjour vers Maskoutens, ou nous 
arrivames le 7 de Juin. 



24O NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



SECTION III. 

Description de la B our gad e de Maskoutens, Cequi s'y passa entre le 
Pere et les sauvages; Les Frangois commencent d'entrer dans un 
Pays nouveau et inconnu et arrivent a Missispi. 

Nous voicy rendus a Maskoutens. Ce mot en Algonquin peut signi- 
fier, nation du feu; aussi est ce le nom qu'on luy a donne. Cest ici le 
terme des decouvertes qu'ont fait les Frangois, car ils n'ont point 
encore passe plus avant. 

Ce Bourg est compose de trois sortes de Nations qui s'y sont 
ramassees, des Miamis, des Maskoutens, et des Kikabous. Les pre- 
miers sont les plus civils, les plus liberaux, et les mieux faitz; ils 
portent deux longues moustaches sur les oreilles, qui leur donnent 
bonne grace, ils passent pour les guerriers, et font rarement des parties 
sans succez ; ils sont fort dociles, ils escoutent paisiblement ce qu'on 
leur dit et ont paru si avides d'entendre le P. Alloiies quand il les in- 
struisoit, qu'ils luy donnoient peu de repos, mesme pendant la nuict. Les 
Maskoutens et les Kikabous sont plus grossiers et semblent etre des 
paysantz en comparaison des autres. Comme les Escorces a faire des 
cabannes sont rares en ce pays la, ils se servent de joncs qui leur tien- 
nent lieu de murailles et de couvertures, mais qui ne les deffendant 
pas beaucoup des vents, et bien moins des pluyes quand elles tombent 
en abondance. La commodite de ces sortes de cabannes est qu'ils les 
mettent en pacquetz et les portent aisement ou ils veulent pendant le 
temps de leur chasse. 

Lorsque je les visitay, je fus extremement console de veoir une belle 
croix plantee au milieu du bourg et ornee de plusieurs peaux blanches, 
de ceintures rouges d'arcs et de fleches que ces bonnes gens avoient 
offertz au grand Manitou (c'est le nom qu'ils donnent a Dieu), pour 
le remercier de ce qu'il avoit eu pitie d'eux pendant l'hyver, leur 
donnant une chasse abondante, lorsqu'ils apprendoient le plus la 
famine. 

Je pris plaisir de veoir la situation de cette bourgade, elle est belle 
et bien divertissante ; car d'une eminence, sur laquelle elle est placee, 
on decouvre de toutes parts des prairies a perte de veiie, partagees 
par des bocages ou par des bois de haute futaye. La terre y est tres 
bonne et rend beaucoup de bled d'inde; les sauvages ramassent 
quantite de prunes et de raisins, dont on pourroit faire beaucoup de 
vin si Ton vouloit. 

Nous ne fumes pas plustost arrivez que nous assemblames les anciens 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 24I 



M. Joelyet et moy, il leur dit qu'il estoit envoye de la part de monsr. 
nostre gouverneur pour decouvrir de nouveaux pays et moi de la part 
de Dieu pour les esclairer des lumieres du St. Evangile; qu'au reste le 
maistre souverain de nos vies vouloit estre connu de toutes les nations, 
et que pour obeir a ses volontes, je ne craignois pas la mort a la quelle 
je m'exposois dans des voyages si perilleux; que nous avions besoin de 
deux guides pour nous mettre dans nostre route; nous leur fimes un 
present, en les priant de nous les accorder, ce qu'ils firent tres civilement 
et mesme voulurent aussi nous parler par un present qui fut une nate 
pour nous servir de lit pendant tout nostre voyage. 

Le lendemain qui fut le dixieme de Juin, deux Miamis qu'on nous 
donna pour guides s'embarquerent avec nous, a la veue d'un grand 
monde qui ne pouvoit assez s'estonner de veoir sept frangois, seuls et 
dans deux canotz oser entreprendre une expedition si extresordinaire 
et si hazardeuse. 

Nous scavions qu'a trois lieiis de Maskoutens estoit une riviere 
qui se decharge dans Missisipi ; nous scavions encor que le rund de 
vent que nous devions tenir pour y arriver estoit l'ouest soroiiest, mais 
le chemin est partage de tant de marais et de petitz lacs, qu'il est 
aise de s'y egarer d'autant plus que la riviere qui y mene est si 
chargee de folle avoine, qu'on a peine a en reconnoistre le canal; 
c'est en quoy nous avions bien besoin de nos deux guides, aussi nous 
conduisirent ils heureusement jusqua un portage de 2,700 pas et nous 
aiderent a transporter nos canotz pour entrer dans cette riviere, apres 
quoy ils s'en retournerent nous laissant seuls en ce pays inconnu, entre 
les mains de la providence. 

Nous quittons done les eaux qui vont jusqua Quebeq a 400 ou 500 
lieues d'icy pour prendre celles qui nous conduiront desormais dans 
les terres estrangeres. Avant que de nous y embarquer, nous com- 
menQames tous ensemble une nouvelle devotion a la Ste. Vierge Im- 
maculee que nous pratiquames tous les jours, luy addressant des 
prieres particulieres pour mettre sous sa protection et nos personnes 
et le succez de nostre voyage et apres nous estre encourages les uns 
les autres nous montons en canot. 

La riviere sur laquelle nous nous embarquames s'appelle Meskousing. 
Elle est fort large, son fond est du sable, qui fait diverses battures les- 
quelles rendent cette navigation tres difficile; elle est pleine d'isles cou- 
vertes de vignes; sur les bords paroissent de bonnes terres, entremes- 
lees de bois, de prairies et de costeaux, on y voit des chesnes, des 
noiers, des bois blancs et une autre espece d'arbres, dontz les branches 
sont armees de longues espines. Nous n'avons vu ni gibier ni poisson, 
mais bien des chevreuils et des vaches en assez grande quantite. Nostre 
route estoit au suroiiest et apres avoir navige environ 30 lieues, nous 
apperceumes un endroit qui avoit toutes les apparences de mine de fer, 
et de fait un de nous qui en a veu autrefois assure que celle que nous 
avons trouve est fort bonne et tres abondante; elle est couverte de 



242 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



trois pieds de bonne terre, assez proche d'une chaine de rocher, dont 
le bas est plein de fort beau bois. Apres 40 lieiies sur cette mesme route 
nous arrivons a l'embouchure de nostre riviere et nous trouvant a 42 
degrez et demy d'eslevation, nous entrons heureusement dans Misis- 
sipi le I7 e Juin avec une joye que je ne peux pas expliquer. 



SECTION IV. 

De la grande Riviere appelee Missisipi, ses plus notables particularity . 
— De divers animaux et particulierement les Pisikious ou bceufs sau- 
vages, leur figure et leur naturel. — Des premiers villages des Ilinois 
ou les Franqois arrivent. 

Nous voyla done sur cette riviere si renommee dont iay tache d'en 
remarquer attentivement toutes les singularites ; la riviere de Missisipi 
tire son origine de divers lacs qui sont dans le pays des peuples du 
nord; elle est estroitte a sa decharge de Miskous. Son courant qui 
porte du coste du sud est lent et paisible. A la droitte on voist une 
grande chaisne de montagnes fort hautes et a la gauche de belles 
terres ; elle est coupee d'isles en divers endroictz. En sondant nous 
avons trouves dix brasses d'eau, sa largeur est fort inegale, elle a 
quelquefois trois quartz de lieiies, et quelquefois elle se retressit 
jusqua trois arpens. Nous suivons doucement son cours, qui va au 
sud et au sudest jusqu'aux 42 degres d'elevation. Cest icy que nous 
nous appercevons bien qu'elle a tout change de face. II n'y a presque 
plus de bois ny de montagnes, les isles sont plus belles et couvertes de 
plus beaux arbres; nous ne voions que des chevreils et des vaches, des 
outardes et des cygnes sans aisles, parcequ'ils quittent leurs plumes en ce 
pays. Nous rencontrons de temps en temps des poissons monstrueux, un 
desquels donna si rudement contre nostre canot, que je cru que e'estoit 
un gros arbre qui l'alloit mettre en pieces. Une autrefois nous apper- 
ceumes sur l'eau un monstre qui avoit une teste de tigre, le nez 
pointu comme celuy d'un chat sauvage, avec la barbe et des oreilles 
droittes elevees en haut, la teste estoit grize et le col tout noir, nous 
n'en vismes pas davantage. Quand nous avons jette nos retz a l'eau 
nous avons pris des esturgeons et une espece de poisson fort extres- 
ordinaire, il ressemble a la truitte avec cette difference, qu'il a la 
gueule plus grande, il a proche du nez (qui est plus petit aussi bien 
que les yeux) une grande areste, comme un bust de femme, large de 
trois doigts, long d'une coudee, aubout de laquelle est un rond large 
comme la main, Cela 1'oblige souvent en saultant hors de l'eau de tomber 
en derriere. Estant descendus jusqua 41 degres 28 minuittes suivant 
le mesme rund, nous trouvons que les cocs d'inde ont pris la place du 
gibier et les pisikious ou bceufs sauvages celles des autres bestes. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 243 



Nous les appelons boeufs sauvages parcequ'ils sont bien semblables 
a nos boeufs domestiques, ils ne sont pas plus longs, mais ils sont 
pres d'une fois plus gros et plus corpulentz; nos gens en ayant tue 
un, trois personnes avoient bien de la peine a le remiier. Ils ont la 
teste forte grosse, le front plat et large d'un pied et demy entre les 
cornes qui sont entierement semblables a celles de nos boeufs, mais elles 
sont noires et beaucoup plus grande. Ils ont sous le col comme une 
grande falle, qui pend en bas et sur le dos une bosse assez elevee. 
Toute la teste, la col et une partie des espaules sont couvertz d'un 
grand crin comme celuy des chevaux, c'est une hure longue d'un pied, 
qui les rend hideux et leur tombant sur les yeux les empeche de voire 
devant eux. Le reste du corps est revetu d'un gros poil frise a peu pres 
come celuy de nos moutons, mais bien plus fort et plus espais, il 
tombe en este et la peau devient douce comme du velours. C'est 
pourlors que les sauvages les employment pour s'en faire de belles 
Robbes qu'ils peignent de diverses couleurs; la chair et la graisse des 
pisikious est excellente et fait le meilleur mets des festins. Aureste ils 
sont tres mediants et il ne se passent point d'annee qu'ils ne tuent 
quelque sauvage; quand on vient les attaquer, ils prennent s'ils peu- 
vent un homme avec leurs cornes, l'enlevent en l'air, puis ils le jettent 
contre terre, le foulent des pieds et le tuent. Si on tire de loing sur 
eux ou de l'arc au du fusil, il faut si tost apres le coup se jetter a 
terre et se cacher dans l'herbe, car s'ils apercoivent celuy qui a tire, 
ils courent apres et le vont attaquer. Comme ils ont les pieds gros 
et assez courtz, ils ne vont pas bien viste pour l'ordinaire, si ce n'est 
lorsqu'ils sont irritez. Ils sont espars dans les prairies comme des 
troupeaux; j'en ay veu une bande de 400. 

Nous avancons tous jours mais comme nous ne scavions pas ou 
nous allions ayant fait deia plus de cent lieiies sans avoir rien de- 
couvert que des bestes et des oyseaux nous nous tenons bien sur nos 
gardes; c'est pourquoy nous ne faisons qu'un petit feu a terre sur le 
soir pour preparer nos repas et apres souper nous nous en eloignons 
le plus que nous pouvons et nous allons passer la nuict dans nos 
canotz que nous tenons a l'ancre sur la riviere assez loing des bords; 
ce qui n'empeche pas que quelqu'un denous ne soit tous jour en sen- 
tinelle de peur de surprise, Allant par le sud et le sud suroiiest nous 
nous trouvons a la hauteur de 41 degrez et jusqua 40 degrez quelques 
minutes en partie par sudest et en partie par le suroiiest apres avoir 
avance plus de 60 lieiies depuis nostre entree dans la Riviere sans rien 
decouvrir. 

Enfin le 25e Juin nous aperceumes sur le bord de l'eau des pistes 
d'hommes, et un petit sentier assez battu, qui entroit dans une belle 
prairie. Nous nous arrestames pour l'examiner, et jugeant que cestoit 
un chemin qui conduisoit a quelque village de sauvages, nous primes 
resolution de Taller reconnoistre : nous laissons done nos deux canotz 
sous la garde de nos gens, leur recommandant bien de ne se pas 



244 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



laisser surprendre, apres quoy M. Jollyet et moy entreprimes cette 
decouverte assez hazardeuse pour deux hommes seuls qui s'exposent 
a la discretion d'un peuple barbare et inconnu. Nous suivons en 
silence ce petit sentier et apres avoir fait environ 2 lieues, nous 
decouvrimes un village sur le bord d'une riviere, et deux autres sur 
un costeau escarte du premier d'une demi lieiie Ce fut pour lors que 
nous nous recommandames, a Dieu de bon coeur et ayant implore 
son secours nous passames outre sons etre decouverts et nous vinsmes 
si pres que nous entendions mesme parler les sauvages. Nous crumes 
done qu'il estoit temps de nous decouvrir, ce que nous fismes par un 
cry que nous poussames de toutes nos forces, en nous arrestant sans 
plus avancer. A ce cry les sauvages sortent promptement de leurs 
cabanes et nous ayant probablement reconnus pour fran^ois, surtout 
voyant une robe noire, ou du moins n'ayant aucun suject de deffiance, 
puisque nous n'estions que deux hommes, et que nous les avions 
advertis de nostre arrivee, ils deputerent quattre vielliards, pour nous 
venir parler, dontz deux portoient des pipes a prendre du tabac, bien 
ornees et empanachees de divers plumages, ils marchoient a petit pas, 
et elevant leurs pipes vers le soleil, ils sembloient luy presenter a 
fumer, sans neamoins dire aucun mot. Ils furent assez long temps a 
faire le peu de chemin depuis leur village jusqu'a nous. Enfin nous 
ayant abordes, ils s'arresterent pour nous considerer avec attention; 
je me rassuray, voyant ces ceremonies, que ne se font parmy eux 
qu'entre amys, et bien plus quand je les vis couvertz d'estoffe, jugeant 
par la qu'ils estoient de nos alliez. Je leur parlay done le premier et 
je leur demanday, qui ils estoient, ils me repondirent qu'ils estoient 
Ilinois et pour marque de paix ils nous presenterent leur pipe pour 
petuner, ensuitte ils nous inviterent d'entrer dans leur village, ou tout 
le peuple nous attendoit avec impatience. Ces pipes a prendre du tabac 
s'appellent en ce pays des calumetz; ce mot sy est mis tellement en 
usage, que pour estre entendu je seray oblige de m'en servir ayant a 
en parler bien des fois. 



SECTION V. 

Comment les Ilinois receurent le Fere dans leur Bourgade. 

A la porte de la cabane ou nous devions estie receus, estoit un 
vielliard qui nous attendoit dans une posture assez surprenante, qui est 
la ceremonie qu'ils gardent quand ils recoivent des estrangers. Cet 
homme estoit debout et tout nud, tenant ses mains estendus et levees 
vers le soleil, comme s'il eut voulu se deffendre de ses rayons, les- 
quels neamoins passoient sur son visage entre ses doigts; quand nous 
fusmes proches de luy, il nous fit ce compliment; que le soleil est beau, 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 245 



francois, quand tu' nous viens visiter, tout nostre bourg t'attend, et tu 
entreras en paix dans toute nos cabanes. Cela dit, il nous introduisit, 
dans la sienne, ou il y avoit une foule de monde qui nous devoroit des 
yeux, qui cependant gardoit un profond silence, on entendoit neamoins 
ces paroles qu'on nous addressoit de temps en temps et d'une voix 
basse, que voyla qui est bien, mes freres, de ce que vous nous visitez. 

Apres que nous eusmes pris place, on nous fit la civilite ordinaire 
du pays, qui est de nous presenter le calumet; il ne faut pas le refuser, 
si on ne veut passer pour ennemy, ou du moins pour incivil, pourveu 
qu'on fasse semblant de fumer, c'est assez ; pendant que tous les anciens 
petunoient apres nous pour nous honorer, on vient nous inviter de la 
part du grande capitaine de tous les Ilinois de nous transporter en sa 
Bourgade, ou il vouloit tenir conseil avec nous. Nous y allames en 
bonne compagnie, car tous ces peuples, qui n'avoient jamais veu de 
francois chez eux ne se lassoient point de nous regarder, ils se 
couchpient sur l'herbe le long des chemins, ils nous devangoient, puis 
ils retournoient sur leurs pas pour nous venir voir encor. Tout cela 
se faisoit sans bruit et avec les marques d'un grand respect qu'ils 
avoient pour nous. 

Estant arrivez au Bourg du grand Capitaine, nous les vismes a 
l'entree de sa cabanne, au milieu de deux vielliards, tout trois debout 
et nud tenant leur calumet tourne vers le soleil, il nous harangua en 
peu de motz, nous felicitant de nostre arrivee, il nous presenta ensuitte 
son calumet et nous fit fumer, en mesme temps que nous entrions dans 
sa cabanne, ou nous receumes toutes leurs caresses ordinaires. 

Voyant tout le monde assemble et dans le silence, je leur parlay 
par quattre presents que je leur fis, par le premier je leur disois que 
nous marchions en paix pour visiter les nations qui s'etoient sur la 
riviere jusqu'a la mer; par le second je leur declaray que Dieu qui 
les a crees avoit pitie d'eux, puisqu'apres tant de temps qu'ils l'ont 
ignore, il vouloit se faire connoistre a tous ces peuples, que jestois 
envoye de sa part pour ce dessein, que c'estoit a eux a le reconnoistre 
et a luy obeir, Par le troisieme que le grand capitaine des fran- 
gois leur faisoit sgavoir que c'estoit luy qui mettoit la paix partout et 
qui avoit dompte l'lroquois. Enfin par le quatrieme nous les prions 
de nous donner toutes les connoissances qu'ils avoient de la mer, et 
des nations par lesquelles nous devions passer pour y arriver. 

Quand jeu finy mon discour, le capitaine se leva, et tenant le main 
sur la teste d'un petit esclave qu'il nous vouloit donner il par la ainsi. 
Ie te remercie Robe Noire, et toy frangois (s'addressant a M. Jollyet), 
de ce que vous prenez tant de peine pour nous venir visiter, jamais 
la terre n'a este si belle ny le soleil si eclatant qu'aujourdhui ; jamais 
notre riviere n'a este si calme, n'y si nette de rochers que vos canotz 
ont enlevees en passant, jamais nostre petun n'a eu si bon gout, n'y 
nos bleds n'ont paru si beau que nous les voions maintenant. Voicy mon 
fils que je te donne pour te faire connoistre mon coeur, je te prie d'avoir 



246 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



pitie de moy et de toute ma nation, c'est toy qui connoist le grand 
Genie qui nous a tous faits, c'est toy qui luy parle et quy escoute sa 
parole, demande luy qu'il me donne la vie et la sante et vient demeurer 
avec nous, pour nous le faire connoistre. Cela dit il mit le petit esclave 
proche de nous, et nous fit un second present, qui estoit un calumet 
tout mysterieux, dont ils font plus d'estat que d'un esclave; il nous 
temoignoit par ce present l'estime qu'il faisoit de monsieur nostre gou- 
verneur, sur le recit que nous luy en avions fait; et pour un troisieme 
il nous prioit de la part de toute sa nation, de ne pas passer oultre, a 
cause des grands dangers ou nous nous exposions. 

Je repondis que je ne craignois point la mort, et que je n'estimois 
point de plus grand bonheur que de perdre la vie pour la gloire de 
Celuy que a tout fait. C'est ce que ces pauvres peuples ne peuvent 
comprendre. 

Le conseil fut suivy d'un grand festin qui consistoit en quattre metz, 
qu'il fallut prendre avec toutes leurs fa^ons, le premier service fut 
un grand plat de bois plein de sagamite, c'est-a-dire de farine de bled 
d'inde qu'on fait boiiillur avec de l'eau qu'on assaisonne de graisse. 
Le maistre des ceremonies avec une cuillier pleine de sagamite me la 
presentat a la bouche par trois ou 4 fois, comme on feroit a un petit 
enfant, il fit le mesme a M. Jollyet. Pour second mets il fit paroistre 
un second plat ou il y avoit trois poissons, il en prit quelques mor- 
ceaux pour en oster les arestes, et ayant souffle dessus pour les rafraichir, 
il nous les mit a la bouche, comme Ton donneroit la beschee a un 
oyseau. On apporte pour troisieme service un grand chien, qu on 
venoit de tuer, mais ayant appris que nous n'en mangions point, on 
le retira de devant nous. Enfin le 4e fut une piece de bceuf sauvage, 
dont on nous mit a la bouche les morceaux les plus gras. 

Apres ce festin il fallut aller visiter tout le village, qui est bien 
compose de 300 cabannes. Pendant que nous marchions par les rues, 
un orateur haranguoit continuellement pour obliger tout le monde a 
nous voir, sans nous estre importuns; on nous presentoit partout des 
ceintures, des jartieres et autres ouvrages faits de poil d'ours et de 
bceuf s et teins en rouge, en jaune, et en gris, ce sont toutes les raretez 
qu'ils ont; commes elles ne sont pas bien considerbles, nous ne nous 
en chargeames point. 

Nous couchames dans la cabane du capitaine etle lendemain nous 
prismes conge de luy, promettant de repasser par son bourg dans 
quatre lunes. II nous conduisit jusqua nos canotz avec pres de 600 
personnes qui nous virent embarquer, nous donnant toutes les mar- 
ques qu'ils pouvoient de la joye que notre visite leur avoit causee. 
Je m'engageay en mon parti culier, en leur disant adieu que je vien drois 
l'an prochain demeurer avec eux pour les instruire. Mais avant que 
de quitter le pays des Ilinois, il est bon que je rapporte ce que j'ay 
reconnu de leurs coustumes et fagons de faire. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 247 



SECTION VI. 

Du naturel des Ilinois, de leurs meurs, et de leurs coustumes, de Vestime 
qu'ils ont pour le Calumet ou pipe a prendre du Tabac et de la danse 
qu'ils font en son honneur. 

Qui dit Ilinois, c'est comme qui diroit en leur langue les hommes, 
comme si les autres sauvages, aupres d'eux ne passoient que pour des 
bestes, aussi faut il advoiier qu'ils ont un air d'humanite que nous 
n'avons pas remarque dans les autres nations que nous avons veiies 
sur nostre route. Le peu de sejour que jay fait parmy eux ne m'a pas 
permis de prendre toutes les connoissances que j'aurois souhaite; de 
toutes leurs fagons de faire voicy ce que 3 'en ay remarque. 

lis sont divises en plusieures bourgades dont quelquesunes sont 
asses eloignees de celle dont nous parlons qui s'appelle Peoiiarea, 
c'est ce qui met de la difference en leur langue, laquelle universalle- 
ment tient de l'allegonquin de sorte que nous nous entendions facile- 
ment les uns les autres. Leur naturel est doux et traitable, nous 
l'avons experimente dans la reception qu'il nous ont faitte. lis ont 
plusieurs femmes dont ils sont extremement jaloux, ils les veillent avec 
un grand soin et ils leur couppent le nez ou les oreilles quand elles 
ne sont pas sages, j'en ay veu plusieures qui portoient les marques de 
leurs desordres. Ils ont le corps bien fait, ils sont lestes et fort 
adroits a tirer de l'arc et de la fleche. Ils se servent aussi des fusils 
qu'ils acheptent des sauvages nos allies qui ont commerce avec nos 
frangois ; ils en usent particulierement pour donner l'epouvante par 
le bruit et par la fumee a leurs ennemys qui n'en n'ont point l'usage 
et n'en ont jamais veu pour estre trop eloigne vers le couchant. Ils 
sont belliqueux et se rendent redoubtables aux peuples eloignes du 
sud et de l'oiiest, ou ils vent faire des esclaves, desquels ils se ser- 
vent pour trafiquer, les vendant cherement a d'autres nations, pour 
d'autres marchandises. Ces sauvages si eloignes chez qui ils vont 
en guerre n'ont aucune connoissance d'Europeans; ils ne savent ce 
que c'est ny de fer ny de cuivre et n'ont que des couteaux de 
pierre. Quand les Ilinois partent pour aller on guerre, il faut que 
tout le bourg en soit adverty par le grand cry qu'ils font a la porte 
de leurs cabanes, le soir et le matin avant que de partir. Les capi- 
taines se distinguent des soldats par des escharpes rouges qu'ils por- 
tent, elles sont faittes de crin d'ours et du poil de bceufs sauvages 
avec assez d'industrie; ils se peignent le visage d'un rouge de san- 
guine, dont ily a grande quantite a quelques journees du bourg. Ils 
vivent de chasse qui est abondante en ce pays et de bled d'inde dont 



22 



248 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 

ils font tousjour une bonne recolte, aussi n'ont ils jamais souffert de 
famine ils sement aussi des febves et des melons qui sont excel- 
lentz, surtout ceux qui ont la graine rouge, leurs citrouilles ne sont 
pas des meilleures, ils les font secher au soleil pour les manger 
pendant l'hyver et le primptemps. Leur cabanes sont fort grandes, 
elles sont couvertes et pavees de nattes faittes de joncs: ils trouvent 
toutes leur vaiselle dans le bois et leurs cuilliers dans la teste de 
bceufs dont ils savent si bien accommoder le crane qu'ils s'en servent 
pour manger aisement leur sagamite. 

Ils sont liberaux dans leurs maladies, et croyent que les medica- 
mens qu'on leur donne, operent a proportion des presents qu'ils auront 
fais au medecin. Ils n'ont que des peaux pour habitz, les femmes 
sont tousjours vestiies fort modestement et dans une grande bien 
seance au lieu que les hommes ne se mettent pas en peine de se 
couvrir. Je ne scais par quelle superstition quelques Ilinois, aussi 
bien que quelques Nadoiiessi, estant encore jeunes prennent l'habit des 
femmes qu'ils gardent toute leur vie. II y a du mystere; car il ne 
se marient jamais, et font gloire de s'abaisser a faire tout ce que font 
les femmes; ils vont pourtant en guerre, mais ils ne peuvent se servir 
que de la massiie, et non pas de l'arc ny de la fleche qui sont les 
armes propres des hommes, ils assistent a toutes les jongleries et aux 
danses solemnelles qui se font a l'honneur du calumet, ils y chantent 
mais ils n'y peuvent pas danser, ils sont appelles aux conseils, ou 
Ton ne peut rien decider sans leurs advis; enfin par le pro- 
fession qu'ils font d'une vie extresordinaire, ils passent pour des 
manitous, c'est-adire pour des Genies ou des personnes de conse- 
quence. 

II ne reste plus qu'a parler du calumet. II n'est rien parmy eux ny 
de plus mysterieux ny de plus recommandable, on ne rend pas tant 
d'honneur aux couronnes et aux sceptres des Roys qu'ils luy en ren- 
dent; il semble estre le dieu de la paix et de la guerre, l'arbitre de la 
vie et de la mort. Cest assez de le porter sur soy et de le faire voir 
pour marcher en assurance au milieu des ennemys, qui dans le fort du 
combat mettent bas les armes quand on le montre. Cest pour cela que 
les Ilinois m'en donnerent un pour me servir de sauvegarde parmy 
toutes les nations, parlesquelles je devois passer dans mon voyage. II 
ya un calumet pour la paix et un pour la guerre, qui ne sont distingue 
que par la couleur des plumages dontz ils sont ornes. (Le Rouge est 
marque de guerre), ils s'en servent encor pour terminer leur differ- 
ents, pour affermir leurs alliances et pour parler aux estrangers.* II 
est compose d'une pierre rouge polie comme du marbre et percee d'une 
telle fagon qu'un bout sert a recevoir le tabac et l'autre s'enclave 
dans le manche, qui est un baston de deux pieds de long, gros comme 
une canne ordinaire et percee par le milieu; il est embelly de la 

*From this to the next star is from Thevenot. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 249 



teste et du col de divers oyseaux, dont le plumage est tres beau; ils y 
ajoutent aussi de grandes plumes rouges, vertes et d'autres couleurs, 
dont il est tout empanache ; ils en font estat particulierement, parcequ'ils 
le regardent comme le calumet du soleil ; et de fait ils le luy presentent 
pour fumer quand ils veulent obtenir du calme, ou de la pluye ou du 
beau temps. Ils font scrupule de se baigner au commencement de 
l'Este, ou de manger des fruits nouveaux qu-apres l'avoir dance. En 
voicy la fagon. 

La danse du calumet, qui est fort celebre parmy ces peuples, ne se 
fait que pour des sujets considerables; quelque fois c'est pour affermir 
la paix ou se reiinir pour quelque grande guerre; c'est d'autres fois 
pour une rejouissance publique, tantost on en fait honneur a une nation 
qu'on invite d'y assister, tantost ils sen servent a la reception de quelque 
personne considerable comme s'ils vouloient luy donner le divertisse- 
ment du Bal ou de la Comede; l'hyver la ceremonie se fait dans une 
cabane, l'Este c'est en raze campagne. La place etant choisie, on 
l'environne tout a l'entour d'arbres pour mettre tout le monde a l'ombre 
de leurs feuillages, pour se defendre des chaleurs du soleil; on etend 
une grande natte de joncs peinte de diverses couleurs au milieu de la 
place; elle sert comme de tapis pour mettre dessus avec honneur le 
Dieu de celuy qui fait la Dance; car chacun a le sien, qu'ils appellent 
leur manitou, c'est un serpent ou un oyseau, ou chose semblable qu'ils 
ont resve en dormant et en qui ils mettent tout leur confiance pour le 
succez deleur guerre, de leur pesche et de leur chasse; pres de ce 
manitou et a sa droite, on met le calumet en l'honneur de qui se fait 
la feste et tout a l'entour on fait comme une trophee et on estend les 
armes dont se servent les guerriers de ces nations, sgavoir la massiie, 
la hache d' arme, l'arc, le carquois et les fleches. 

Les choses estant ainsi disposees et l'heure de la dance appro- 
chant, ceux qui sont nommez pour chanter prennent la place la plus 
honorable sous les feuillages; ce sont les hommes et les femmes qui 
ont les plus belles voix, et qui s'accordent parfaitement bien ensem- 
ble; tout le monde vient ensuitte se placer en rond sous les branches, 
mais chacun en arrivant doit saltier le manitou, ce qu'il fait en petu- 
nant et jettant de sa bouche la fumee sur luy comme s'il luy pre- 
sentoit de l'encens; chacun va d'abord avec respect prendre le calumet 
et le soutenant des deux mains, il le fait dancer en cadence, s'accordant 
bien avec l'air des chansons; il luy fait faire des figures bien 
differentes, tantost il le fait voir a toute l'assemblee se tournant de 
cote et d'autre; apres cela, celuy qui doit commencer la dance paroist 
au milieu de l'assemblee et va d'abord et tantost il le presente au soleil, 
comme s'il le vouloit faire fumer, tantost il l'incline vers la terre, 
d'autrefois il luy estend les aisles comme pour voler, d'autres fois il 
l'approche de la bouche des assistans, afinqu'ils fument, le tout en 
cadence, et c'est comme la premiere scene du Ballet. 

La seconde consiste en un combat qui se fait au son d'une espece 



25O NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



de tambour, qui succede aux chansons, ou mesme qui s'y joignant 
s'accordent fort bien ensemble; le Danseur fait signe a quelque guerrier 
de venir prendre les armes qui sont sur la natte et l'invite a se battre 
au son des tambours; celuyci s'approche, prend l'arc et la fleche, avec 
la hache d'armes et commence le duel contre l'autre, qui n'a point 
d'autre defense que le calumet. Ce spectacle est fort agreable, surtout 
les faisant tousjours en cadence, car Tun attaque, l'autre se defend, Tun 
porte des coups, l'autre les pare, l'un fuit, l'autre le poursuit et puis 
celuy qui fuyoit tourne visage et fait fiiyr son ennemy, ce qui se passe 
si bien par mesure et a pas comptez et au son regie des voix et des 
tambours, que cela pourroit passer pour une assez belle entree de 
Ballet en France. 

La troisieme scene consiste en un grand discours que fait celuy qui 
tient le calumet, car le combat estant fini sans sang repandu, il raconte 
les batailles o'u il s'est trouve, les victoires qu'il a remportees, il nomme 
les nations, les lieux et les captifs qu'il a faitz, et pour recompense 
celuy qui preside a la danse luy fait present d'une belle robe de castor 
ou de quelque autre chose et l'ayant receu il va presenter le calumet 
a un autre, celuyci a un troisieme, et ainsi de tous les autres, jusqu'aceque 
tous ayant fait leur devoir, le President fait present du calumet mesme 
a la nation qui a este invitee a cette ceremonie, pour marque de la paix 
eternelle qui sera entre les deux peuples. 

Voicy quelqu'une des chansons qu'ils ont coustume de chanter, ils 
leur donnent un certain tour qu'on ne peut assez exprimer par la 
notte, qui neamoins en fait toute la grace. 
" Ninahani, ninahani, ninahani, naniongo." 



SECTION VII. 

Nous prenons conge de nos Ilinois sur la fin de Juin vers les trois 
heures apres midy, nous nous embarquons a laveiie de tous ces peuples 
qui admiroient nos petits canotz, n'en ayant jamais veu de semblables. 

Nous descendons suivant le courant de la riviere appellee Pekit- 
anoiii, qui se decharge dans Missisipi venant du Nordoiiest, de la 
quelle j'ay quelque chose de considerable a dire apres que j'auray 
raconte ce que j'ay remarque sur cette riviere.* Passant proche des 
rochers assez hautz qui bordent la riviere j'apperceu un simple qui 
m'a paru fort extraordinaire. La racine est semblable a des petitz 
naveaux attachez les uns aux autres par des petitz filetz qui ont le 
gout de carote; de cette racine sort une feuille large comme la 
main, espaisses d'un demi doigt avec des taches au milieu; de cette 
feuille naissent d'autres feuilles resemblables aux plaques qui servent 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 25 1 



de flambeaux dans nos sales et chasque feuille porte cinq ou six 
fleurs jaunes en forme de clochettes. 

Nous trouvames quantite demeures aussi grosses que celle de France, 
et un petit fruict que nous prismes d'abord pour des olives, mais il avoit 
le gout d'orange et un aultre fruict gros comme un ceuf de poule, 
nous le fendismes en deux et parurent deux separations, dans chas- 
qu'une desquelles il y a 8 ou 10 fruicts enchassez, ils ont la figure 
d'amande et sont fort bons quand ils sont meurs; l'arbre neamoins 
qui les porte a tres mauvaise odeur et sa feuille ressemble a celle de 
noyer, il se trouve aussi dans les prairies un fruit semblable a des 
noisettes mais plus tendre: les feuilles sont fort grandes et viennent 
d'une tige au bout de laquelle est une teste semblable a celle d'un 
tournesol, dans laquelle toutes ces noisettes sont proprement arrangees, 
elles sont fort bonnes et cuites et crues. 

Comme nous cottoions des rochers affreux pour leur haulteur et 
pour leur longeur, nous vismes sur un de ses rochers deux monstres 
en peinture qui nous firent peur d'abord et sur lesquels les sauvages 
les plus hardys n'osent pas arrester longtemps les yeux; ils sont gros 
comme un veau; ils ont des cornes en teste commes des chevreils; 
un regard affreux, des yeux rouges, une barbe comme d'un tygre, la 
face a quelque chose de l'homme, le corps couvert d'ecailles et la 
queue si longue qu'elle fait tout le tour du corps passant par dessus 
la teste et retournant entre les jambes elle se termine eu queue de 
poisson. Le vert le rouge et le noirastre sont les trois couleurs qui le 
composent; au reste ces 2 monstres sont si bien peint que nous ne 
pouvons pas croire qu'aucun sauvage en soit l'autheur, puisqueles 
bons peintres en France auroient peine a si bien faire, veuque d'ail- 
leurs ils sont si hauts sur le rocher qu'il est difficile d'y atteindre 
commodement pour les peindre. Voicy apeupres la figure de ces 
monstres comme nous l'avons contretiree. 

Comme nous entretenions sur ces monstres, voguant paisiblement 
dans une belle eau claire et dormante nous entendisme le bruit d'un 
rapide, dans lequel nous allions tomber. Je n'ay rien veu de plus 
affreux, un ambaras de gros arbres entiers, de branches, d'isletz flo- 
tans, sortoit de l'embouchure de la riviere Pekitanoiii avec tant d'im- 
petuosite qu'on ne pouvoit s'exposer a passer au travers sans grand 
danger. L'agitation estoit telle que l'eau en estoit toute boueuse et 
ne pouvoit s'epurer. Pekitanoiii est une riviere considerable qui venant 
d'assez loing du coste du noroiiest, se decharge dans Missisipi, plusieurs 
Bourgades de sauvages sont placees le long de cette riviere et jespere 
par son moyen faire la decouverte de la mer Vermeille ou de Californie. 

Nous jugeons bien par le rund de vent que tient Missisippi, si elle 
continue dans la mesme route, qu'elle a sa decharge dans le golphe 
mexique; il seroit bien advantageux de trouver celle qui conduit a la 
mer du sud, vers la Californie et c'est comme j'ay dit ce que j'espere 
de rencontrer par Pekitanoui, suivant le rapport que m'en ont fait les 



252 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



sauvages, desquels j'ay appris qu'en refoulant cette riviere pendant 5 
ou 6 journees on trouve une belle prairie de 20 ou 30 lieiies de long, 
il faut la traverser allant au norouest, elle se termine a une autre 
petite riviere, sur laquelle on peut s'embarquer, n'etant pas bien dif- 
ficile de transporter les canotz par un si beau pays telle qu'est cette 
prairie. Cette 2de riviere a son cours vers le souroiiest pendant 10 ou 
15 lieiies, apres quoy elle entre dans un petit lac, que est la source d'une 
autre riviere profonde, laquelle va au couchant, ou elle se jette dans 
la mer. Je ne doubte presque point que ce ne soit la Mer Vermeille, 
et je ne desespere pas d'en faire un jour la decouverte, si Dieu m'en 
fait la grace et me donne la sante affin de pouvoir publier l'Evangile 
a tous les peuples de ce nouveau monde, qui ont croupi si longtemps 
dans les tenebres de l'infidelite. 

Reprenons nostre route apres nous estre eschape comme nous avons 
pu de ce dangereux rapide cause par l'ambaras dont j'ay parle. 



SECTION VIII. 

Des nouveaux' pays que le Pere decouvre. — Diverses p articular ites. — 
Rencontre de quelques sauvages: premieres nouvelles de la Mer et 
des Europeans. — Grand danger evite par le moyen du calumet. 

Apres avoir fait environ 20 lieiies droit au sud et un peu moins au 
sudest nous nous trouvons a une riviere nominee Ouaboukigou dont 
Tembouchure est par les 36 degrez d'elevation. Avant que d'y arriver 
nous passons par un lieu redoutable aux sauvages parcequ'ils estiment 
qu'il y a un manitou, c'est a dire un demon qui devore les passans 
et c'est de quoy nous menagoient les sauvages qui nous vouloient de- 
tourner de nostre enterprise. Voicy ce demon, c'est une petite anse 
de rochers haulte de 20 pieds ou se degorge tout le courant de la riviere 
lequel estant repousse contre celuy qui le suit et arreste par une isle 
qui est proche, est contraint de passer par un petit canal, ce qui ne 
se fait pas sans un furieux combat de toutes ces eaux qui rebroussent 
les uns sur autres et sans un grand tintamarre qui donne de la terreur 
a des sauvages qui craignent tout, mais cela ne nous empeche point de 
passer et d'arriver a 8ab8kig8. Cette riviere vient des terres du levant 
ou sont les peuples qu'on appelle Chaoiianons, en si grand nombre, 
qu'en un quartier on compte jusqua 23 villages et 15 en un aultre, assez 
proches les uns des aultres; ils ne sont nullement guerriers, et ce sont 
les peuples que les Iroquois vont chercher si loing pour leur faire la 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 253 



guerre sans aucun sujet, et parceque ces pauvres gens ne scavent pas 
se deffendre, ils se laissent prendre et emmener comme des trouppeaux, 
et tout innocents qu'ils sont, ils ne laissant pas de ressentir quelque 
fois la barbarie des Iroquois qui les bruslent cruellement. 

Une peu au dessus de cette riviere dont ie viens de parler sont 
des falaises ou nos frangois ont apperceu une mine de fer, qu'ils 
jugent tres abondante, il y en a plusieures veines et un lit d'un pied 
de hauteur; on en voit de gros morceaux liez avec des cailloux. II 
s'y trouve d'une terre grasse de trois sortes de couleurs, de pourpre 
de violet et des Rouges. L'eau dans laquelle on la lave prend la 
couleur de sang. II y a aussi d'un sable rouge fort pesant. J' en mis 
sur un aviron qui en prit la couleur si fortement, que l'eau ne la put 
effacer pendant 15 jours que je m'en servois pour nager. 

C'est icy que nous commencons a voir des Cannes ou gros roseaux 
qui sont sur le bord de la riviere, elles ont un vert fort agreable, tous 
les nceuds sont couronnez de feiiilles longues, estroittes et pointues, 
elles sont fort hautes et en si grande quantite que les bceufs sauvages 
ont peine de les forcer. 

Jus lu'a present nous n'avions point estez incommodes des marin- 
gouins, mais nous entrons comme dans leur pays. Voicy ce que font 
les sauvages de ces quartiers pour s'en deffendre; ils elevant un es- 
chaffault dont le plancher n'est fait que de perches, et par consequent 
est perce a jour affinque la fumee du feu qu'ils font dessous passe 
au travers et chasse ces petitz animaux qui ne la peuvent supporter, 
on se couche sur les perches au dessus desquelles sont des escorces 
estendiies contre la pluye. Cet eschaffault leur sert encor contre les 
chaleurs excessives et insupportables de ce pays, car on s'y met a 
l'ombre a l'estage d'en bas et on s'y garantit des rayons du soleil, 
prenant le frais du vent qui passe librement autravers de cet eschaffault. 

Dans le mesme dessein nous fusmes contraints de faire sur l'eau 
une espece de cabane avec nos voiles pour nous mettre a couvert et 
des maringouins et des rayons du soleil, comme nous nous laissons 
aller en cet estat au gre de l'eau, nous apperceumes a terre des sau- 
vages armez de fusilz avec lesquels ils nous attendoient. Je leur pres- 
entay d'abord mon calumet empanache, pendant que nos frangois se 
mettent en deffense, et attendoient a tirer, que les sauvages; eussent 
fait la premiere decharge, je leur parlay en Huron, mais ils me 
repondirent par un mot qui me sembloit nous declarer la guerre, ils 
avoient neamoins autant de peur que nous, et ceque nous prenions pour 
signal de guerre, estoit une invitation qu'ils nous faisoit de nous ap- 
procher, pour nous donner a manger, nous debarquons done et nous 
entrons dans leur cabanes ou ils nous presente du boeuf sauvage et 
de l'huile d'ours, avec des prunes blanches qui sont tres excellentes. 
Ils ont des fusils, des haches, des hoiies, des cousteaux, de la rassade, 
des bouteilles de verre double ou ils mettent leur poudre, ils ont les 
cheveux longs et se marquent par le corps a la fagon des hiroquois, les 



254 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



femmes sont coiffes et vestiies a la fagon des huronnes, ils nous assure- 
rent qu'ils n'y avoit plus que dix journees jusqua la mer, qu'ils achep- 
toient les estoffes et toutes autres marchandises des Europeans qui 
estoient du coste de l'Est, que ces Europeans avoient des chapeletz et 
des images, qu'ils joiioient des instrumentz, qu'il y en avoit qui estoient 
faitz comme moy et qu'ils en estoient bien receu; cependant je ne vis 
personne qui me parut avoir receu aucune instruction pour la foy, Ie 
leurs en donnay ceque je pus avec quelques medailles. 

Ces nouvelles animerent nos courages et nous firent prendre l'aviron 
avec une nouvelle ardeur. Nous avangons done et nous ne voions plus 
tant de prairies parceque les 2 costez de la riviere sont bordez de hauts 
bois. Les cottonniers, les ormes et les boisblancs y sont admirables 
pour leur haulteur et leur grosseur. La grande quantite de bceufs sau- 
vages que nous entendions meugler nous fait croire que les prairies 
sont proches, nous voions aussi des cailles le bord de l'eau, nous avons 
tue un petit perroquet qui avoit la moitie de la teste rouge, l'autre et Ie 
col jaune et tout le corps vert. Nous estions descendus proche des 33 
degrez d'eslevation ayant presque tousjour este vers le sud, quand nous 
apperceumes un village sur le bord de l'eau nomme Mitchigamea. Nous 
eusmes recours a nostre Patronne et a nostre conductrice la Ste. Vierge 
Immaculee, et nous avions bien besoin de son assistance, car nous 
entendismes de loing les sauvages qui s'animoient au combat par leurs 
crys continuels, ils estoient armes d'arcs, de fleches, de haches, de 
massiies et de boucliers, ils se mirent en estat de nous attaquer par terre 
et par eau, une partie s'embarque dans de grands canotz be bois, les 
uns pour monter la riviere, les autres pour la descendre, affin de nous 
coupper chemin, et nous envelopper de tous costez ; ceux qui estoient a 
terre alloient et venoient comme pour commencer 1'attaque. De fait de 
jeunes hommes se jetterent a l'eau, pour venire saiser de mon canot, 
mais le courant les ayant contraint de reprendre terre, un d'eux nous 
jetta sa massiie qui passa par dessus nous sans nous frapper; j'avois 
beau montrer le calumet, et leur faire signe par gestes que nous ne 
venions pas en guerre, l'alarme continuoit tousjour et Ton se preparoit 
deia a nous percer de fleches de toutes parts, quand Dieu toucha sou- 
dainement le cceur des vieillards qui estoient sur le bord de l'eau sans 
doubte par la veiie de nostre calumet qu'ils n'avoient pas bien reconnu 
de loing, mais comme je ne cessois de le faire paroistre, ils en furent 
touch ez, arresterent l'ardeur de leur jeunesse et mesme deux de ces 
anciens ayant jettez dans nostre canot comme a nos pieds leurs arcs et 
leurs carquois pour nous mettre en asseurance, ils y entrerent et nous 
firent approcher de terre, ou nous debarquames non pas sans crainte 
de nostre part. II fallut au commencement parler par gestes, parceque 
personne n'entendoit rien des six langues que je scavois, il se trouva 
enfin un vielliard qui parloit un peu Illinois. 

Nous leurs fimes paroistre par nos presens que nous allions a la 
mer, ils entendirent bien ce que nous leur voulions dire, mais je ne 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 255 



scay s'ils congeurent ce que je leurs dis de Dieu et des choses de 
leur salut, c'est une semence jettee en terre qui fructifira en son temps. 
Nous n'eusmes point d'autre reponse si non que nous apprendrions tout 
ce que nous desirions d'un aultre grand village nomme Akamsea qui 
n'estoit qu'a 8 ou 10 liexies plus bas, ils nous presenterent de la sagamite 
et du poisson et nous passames la nuict chez eux avec assez d'inquietude. 



SECTION IX. 

Reception qu'on fait aux Frangois dans la derniere des Bourgades qu'ils 
ont veiies. — Les moeurs et fagons de faire de ces sauvages. — Raisons 
pour ne pas passer outre. 

Nous embarquames le lendemain de grand matin avec nostre in- 
terprette; un canot ou estoient dix sauvages alloit un peu devant nous, 
estant arrives a une demie lieiie des Akamsea, nous vismes paroistre 
deux canotz qui venoient au devant de nous; celuy qui y commandoit 
estoit debout tenant en main le calumet avec lequel il faisoit plusieurs 
gestes selon le coustume du pays, il vint nous joindre en chantant assez 
agreablement et nous donna a fumer, apres quoy il nous presenta de 
la sagamite et du pain fait de bled d'inde, dont nous mangeammes un 
peu, ensuitte il prit le devant nous ayant fait signe de venir doucement 
apres luy; on nous avoit prepare une place sous reschaffault du chef 
des guerriers, elle estoit propre et tapissee de belles nattes de jonc, 
sur lesquelles on nous fit asseoir, ayant autour de nous les anciens, qui 
estoient plus proches, apres les guerriers et enfin tout le peuple en foule. 
Nous trouvames l'a par bonheur un jeune homme qui entendoit Illinois 
beaucoup mieux que l'lnterprette que nous avions amene de Mitchi- 
gamea, ce fut par son moyen que je parlay d'abord a toute cette 
assemblee par les presens ordinaires; ils admiroient ce que je leur disois 
de Dieu et des mysteres de nostre Ste foy, il faisoint paroistre un grand 
desir de me retenir avec eux pour les pouvoir instruire. 

Nous leurs demandames ensuitte ce qu'ils scavoient de la mer; ils 
nous repondirent que nous n'en estions qu'a dix journees, nous aurions 
pu faire ce chemin en 5 jours, qu'ils ne connoissoient pas les nations 
qui l'habitoient a cause que leurs ennemys les empechoient d'avoir com- 
merce avec ces Europeans, que les haches, cousteaux, et rassade que 
nous voions leur estoient vendues en partie par des nations de l'Est 
et en partie par une bourgade dTlinois placee a l'ouest a quattre jour- 
nees de la, que ces sauvages que nous avons rencontres qui avoient des 



256 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



fusils estoient leurs ennemys, lesquels leur fermoient le passage de la 
mer et les empechoient d'avoir connoissance des Europeans et d'avoir 
avec eux aucun commerce; qu'au reste nous nous exposions beaucoup 
de passer plus oultre a cause des courses continuelles que leurs en- 
nemys font sur la riviere, qui ayant des fusils et estant fort agguerris, 
nous ne pouvions pas sans un danger evident avancer sur cette riviere 
qu'ils occupent continuellement. 

Pendant cet entretien on nous apportoit continuellement a manger 
dans de grands platz de bois, tantost de la sagamite, tantost du bled 
entier, tantost d'un morceau de chien, toute la journee se passa en 
festins. 

Ces peuples sont assez omcieux et liberaux de ce qu'ils ont, mais 
ils sont miserables pour le vivre, nosant aller a la chasse des boeufs 
sauvages a cause de leurs ennemy's ils est vray qu'ils ont le bled 
d'inde en abondance, qu'ils sement en toute saison, nous en visme 
en mesme temps qui estoit en maturite, d'autre qui ne faisoit que 
pousser et d'autre qui estoit en laict, de sorte qu'ils sement trois fois 
Tan. Ils le font cuire dans de grands potz de terre qui sont fort bien 
faits; ils ont aussi des assietes de terres cuitte dontz ils se servent 
a divers usages. Les hommes vont nuds, portent les cheveux courtz, 
ont le nez perce d'ou pend de la rassade aussi bien que de leurs oreilles. 
Les femmes sont vestiies de meschantes peaux, noiient leurs cheveux 
en deux tresses, qu'elles jettent derriere les oreilles, et n'ont aucune 
rarete pour se parer. Leurs festins se font sons aucune ceremonie, ils 
presentent aux invitez de grands platz dontz chascun mange a dis- 
cretion, et se donnent les restes les uns aux aultres. Leur langue est 
extremement difficile et je ne pouvois venir about d'en prononcer quel- 
ques motz, quelque effort que je pusse faire. Leurs cabanes qui sont 
faittes d'escorce, sont longues et larges, ils couchent aux deux bouts 
elevez de deux pieds de terre, ils y gardent leur bled dans de grands 
panniers faits de Cannes, ou dans des gourdes grosses comme des demy 
bariques. Ils ne scavent ce que c'est que le castor, leurs richesses con- 
sistent en peaux de boeufs sauvages, ils ne voient jamais de neige chez 
eux et ne connoissent l'hyver que par les pluyes qui y tombent plus 
souvent qu'en este; nous n'y avons pas mange de fruictz que des 
melons d'eau. S'ils scavoient cultiver leur terre ils en auroient de 
toutes les sortes. 

Le soir les anciens firent un conseil secret dans le dessein que quel- 
que'uns avoient de nous casser la teste pour nous piller, mais le chef 
rompit toutes ces menees. Nous ayant envoye querir, pour marque de 
parfaitte assurance, il dansa le calumet devant nous, de la facon, que 
jay descript cy dessus, et pour nous oster toute crainte, il m'en fit 
present. 

Nous fismes M. Jolliet et moy un aultre conseil, pour deliberer sur 
ce que nous avions a faire, si nous pousserions oultre o'u si nous nous 
contenterions- de la decouverte que nous avions faite. Apres avoir 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 257 



attentivement considere que nous n'estions pas loing du golphe mexique, 
dont le bassin estant a la haulteur de 31 degrez 60 minutes (sic), et 
nous nous trouvant a 33 degrez 40 minutes nous ne pouvions pas en 
estre eloignes plus de 2 ou 3 journees, qui indubitablement la riviere 
Missisipi avoit sa decharge dans la floride ou golphe Mexique, n'on pas 
du coste de Test dans la Virginie, dont le bord de la mer est a 34 
degrez que nous avons passez sans neamoins estre encor arrives a la 
mer; non pas aussi du coste de l'ouest a la Calif ornie, parceque nous 
devions pour cela avoir nostre route a l'ouest ou a l'ouest soroiiest et 
nous l'avons tousjour en au sud. Nous considerames de plus que nous 
nous exposions a perdre le fruict de ce voyage duquel nous ne pour- 
rions pas donner aucune connoissance, si nous allions nous jetter entre 
les mains des Espagnols qui sans doubte nous auroient du moins re- 
tenus captifs. En oultre nous voyions bien que nous n'estions pas en 
estat de resister a des sauvages allies des Europeans, nombreux et' 
expertz a tirer du fusil qui infestoient continuelment le bas de cette 
riviere. Enfin nous avions pris toutes les connoissances qu'on peut 
souhaiter dans cette decouverte. Toutes ces raisons firent conclure 
pour le retour, que nous declarames aux sauvages et pour lequel nous 
nous preparames apres un jour de repos. 



SECTION X. 

Retour du Pere et des Frangois. — Bapteme d'un enfant moribond. 

Apres un mois de navigation en descendant sur Missisipi depuis 
le 42 d degre jusqu'au 34c et plus, et apres avoir publie l'Evangile, 
autant que j'ay pu, aux nations que j'ay rencontrees nous partons le 
17c Juillet du village des Akensea pour retourner sur nos pas. Nous 
remontons done a Missisipi qui nous donne bien de la peine a refouler 
ses courans, il est vray que nous le quittons vers les 38 e degre pour 
entrer dans une aultre riviere qui nous abbrege de beaucoup le chemin 
et nous conduit avec peu de peine dans le lac des Ilinois. 

Nous n'avons rien veu de semblable a cette riviere ou nous entrons 
pour la bonte des terres, des prairies, des bois, des bceufs, des cerfs, 
des chevreux, des chatz sauvages, des outardes, de cygnes, des canards, 
des perroquetz et mesme des castors, il y a quantite de petitz lacs et de 
petites rivieres. Celle sur laquelle nous navigeons est large, profonde, 
paisible pendant 65 lieiies le primptemps et une partie de Teste, on 
ne fait de transport que pendant une demy lieiie. Nous y trouvames 
une bourgade dTlinois nomme Kaskaskia composee de 74 cabanes, ils 
nous y ont tres bien receus et m'ont oblige de leur promettre que je 



258 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



retournerois pour les instruire. Un de chefs de cette nation avec sa 
jeunesse nous est venu conduire jusu'au lac des Ilinois, d'ou enfin nous 
nous sommes rendus dans la baye des Puantz sur la fin de Septembre, 
d'ou nous estions partes vers le commencement de Juin. 

Quand tout ce voyage n'auroit cause que le salut d'une ame, j'es- 
timerois toutes mes peines bien recompensees, et c'est ce que j'ay 
sujet de presumer, car lorsque je retournois nous passames par les 
Ilinois de Pe8area, je fus trois jours a publier la foy dans toutes 
leurs cabanes, apres quoy comme nous nous embarquions, on m'ap- 
porte au bord de l'eau un enfant moribond que je baptisay un peu 
avant qu'il mourut par une providence admirable pour le salut de 
cette ame innocente. 




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UNFINISHED LETTEE OF FATHEE MAEQTTETTE 



TO FATHER CLAUDE DABLON, SUPERIOR OF THE MISSIONS, 

CONTAINING A 

JOURNAL OF HIS LAST VISIT TO THE ILINOIS. 



Mon Reverend Pere — 
Pax Xi:— 

Ayant ete contraint de demeurer a St. Francois tout Teste a cause 
de quelque incommodite. En ayant este guery dez le mois de Sep- 
tembre j'y attendois l'arrivee de nos gens au retour de la bas pour 
scavoir ce qu ie ferois pour mon hyvernement ; lesquels m'apporterent 
les ordres pour mon voyage a la mission de le Conception des Ilinois. 
Ayant satisfait aux sentiments de V. R. pour les copies de mon iournal 
touchant la Riviere de Missisipi je partis avec Pierre Porteret et 

Jacque , le 25 Oct., 1674, sur les midy le vent nous contraignit de 

coucher a la sortie de la riviere ou les P8te8atamis s'assembloient, les 
anciens n'ayant pas voulu qu'on allast du costez des Illinois, de peur 
que la jeunesse amassant des robbes avec les marchandises qu'ils ont 
apportez de la bas, et chassant au castor ne voulut descendre le prin- 
temps qu'ils croient avoir suiet de craindre les Nad8essi. 

26 Oct. Passant au village nous n'y trouvasmes plus que deux 
cabannes qui partoient pour aller hyverner a la Gasparde, nous ap- 
prismes que 5 canots de P8te8atamis et 4 d'llinois estoient partis pour 
aller aux Kaskaskia. 

27. Nous fusmes arrestez le matin par la pluye, nous eusmes beau 
temps et calme l'apresdisnee que nous rencontrasmes dans l'ance a 
1'esturgeon les sauvages qui marchoient devant nous. 



260 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



28. On arrive au portage, un canot qui avoit pris le devant est 
cause (que) qu'on ne tue point de gibier; nous commencons notre 
portage et allons coucher de l'autre bord, ou le mauvais temps nous 
fist bien de la peine. Pierre n'arrive qu'a une heure de nuit s'esgarant 
par d'un sentier ou il n' avoit iamais este, apres la pluye et la tonnerre, 
il tombe de la neige. 

29. Ayant este contraint de changer de cabannage, on continue de 
porter les paquets, le portage a pres d'une lieue et assez incommode en 
plusieurs endroits, les Ilinois s'estant assembles le soir dans notre 
cabanne demandent qu'on ne les quitte pas, comme nous pouvioris 
avoir besoin d'eux et qu'ils connoissent mieux le lac que nous, on 
leur promet. 

30. Les femmes Ilinoises achevent le matin notre portage; on est 
arreste par le vent, il n'y a point de bestes. 

31. On parte par un assez beau temps et Ton vieut coucher a une 
petite riviere. Le chemin de l'ance a l'esturgeon par terre est tres 
difficile, nous n'en marchions pas loing l'automne passee, lorsque nous 
entrasmes dans le bois. 

Nov. 1. Ayant dit la Ste. Messe on vient coucher dans une riviere, 
d'ou Ton va aux P8te8atamis par un beau chemin. Chachag8essi8 
Ilinois fort considere parmy sa nation, a raison en partie qu'il se 
mesle des affaires de la traitte arrive la nuit avec un chevreux sur 
son dos, dont il nous fait part. 

2. La Ste. Messe dit, nous marchons toute la iournee par un fort 
beau temps, on tiie deux chats qui n'ont quasi que de la graisse. 

3. Comme i'estois par terre marchant sur le beau sable tout le 
bordde l'eau estoit d'herbes semblables a celle qu'on pesche aux retz 
St. Ignace, mais ne pouvant passer une riviere, nos gens y entrent 
pour m'embarquer, mais on n'en put sorter a cause de la lame, tous 
les autres canots passent a la reserve d'un seul qui vient avec nous. 

4. On est arreste. Ily a apparence qu'il y a quelque isle au large 
le gibier y passant le soir. 

5. Nous eusmes assez de peine de sorter de la riviere sur le midy'on 
trouva les sauvages dans une riviere, ou ie pris occasion d'instruire les 
Ilinois, a raison d'un festin que Na8asking8e venoit de faire a une peau 
de loup. 

6. On fist une belle iournee, les sauvages estant a la chasse de- 
couvrirent quelques pistes d'hommes ce qui oblige d'arrester le len- 
demain. 

9. On mit a terre sur les 2 heures a cause d'un beau cabannage, 
ou Ton fust arreste 5 iours, a cause de la grande agitation du lac 
sans aucun vent, ensuitte par la neige, qui fust le lendemain fondue 
par le soleil et un vent du large. 

15. Apres avoir fait assez de chemin on cabanne dans un bel en- 
droit ou Ton est arreste 3 iours Pierre raccommode le fusil d'un sau- 
vage, neige tombe la nuit et fonde le iour. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 26l 



20. On couche aux ecors assez mal cabannez les sauvages de- 
meurent derriere durant qu'on est arreste du vent 2 iours et demy 
Pierre allant dans le bois trouve la prairie a 20 lieiies du portage, il 
passe aussi sur un beau canal comme en voute, haut de la hauteur 
d'un homme, ou il y avoit un pied d'eau. 

23. Estant embarque sur le midy nous eusmes assez de peine de 
gagner une riviere, le froid commence par Test et plus d'un pied de 
neige couvrit la terre qui est tousiours depuis demeure ou fust arreste 
la 3 iours durant lesquels Pierre tua un chevreux, 3 outardes, et 3 
cocqs d'inde, qui estoient fort bons, les autres passerent iusques aux 
prairies, un sauvage ayant descouvert quelques cabannes nous vint 
trouver, Jacques y alia le lendemain avec luy, 2 chasseurs me vinrent 
aussi voir, c'estoient des Mask8tens au nombre de 8 ou 9 cabannes, 
lesquelles s'estoient separez les uns des autres pour pouvoir vivre, 
avec des fatigues presque impossibles a des frangois ils marchent tout 
l'hyver, dans des chemins tres difficiles, les terres estant pleines de 
ruisseaux, de petits lacs et de marests, ils sont tres mal cabannez, et 
mangent ou ieusnent selon les lieux ou ils se rencontrent; estant 
arrestez par le vent nous remarquasmes qu'il y avoit de grandes battures 
au large ou la lame brisoient continuellement ; ce fust la que ie sentis 
quelques atteintes d'un flux de ventre. 

27. Nous eusmes assez de peine de sortir de la riviere et ayant fait 
environ 3 lieiies nous trouvasmes les sauvages qui avoient tuez des bceufs 
et 3 Ilinois qui estoient venu du village, nous fusmes arrestez la d'un 
vent de terre, des lames prodigieuses qui venoient du large, et du froid. 

Decembre 1. On devance les sauvages pour pouvoir dire la Ste. Messe. 

3. Ayant dit la Ste. Messe, estant embarque nous fusmes contraint 
de gagner une pointe pour pouvoir mettre a terre a cause des bour- 
guignons. 

4. Nous partismes heureusement pour venir a la riviere du portage 
qui estoit gelee d'un demy pied, ou il y avoit plus de neige que par- 
tout ailleurs, comme aussi plus de pistes de bestes et de cocqs d'in- 
de. La navigation du lac est assez belle d'un portage a l'autre, n'y 
ayant aucune traverse a faire et pouvant mettre a terre partout, moyen- 
nant qu'on ne soit point opiniastre a vouloir marcher dans les lames et 
de grand vent. Les terres qui le bordent ne valent rien, excepte quand 
on est aux prairies, on trouve 8 ou 10 rivieres assez belles, la chasse 
du chevreux est tres belle a mesure qu'on s'esloigne des P8te8atamis. 

12. Comme on commengoit hir a traisner pour approcher du por- 
tage les Ilinois ayant quittez les P8te8atamis arriverent avec bien de la 
peine. Nous ne pusmes dire la Ste. Messe le iour de la Conception 
a cause du mauvais temps et du froid, durant notre seiour a l'entree 
de la riviere Pierre et Jacques tuerent 3 boeufs et 4 chevreux dont un 
courut assez loing ayant le cceur coupe en 2 on se contente de tuer 3 
ou 4 cocqs d'inde de plusieurs qui venoient autour de notre cabanne, 
parcequ'ils mouroient quasi de faim ; Jacques apporta un perdrix qu'il 



262 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



avoit tuez, semblable en tout a celles de France, excepte qu'elle avoit 
comme deux aislerons de 3 ou 4 aisles longues d'un doigt proche de 
la teste, dont elles couvrent les 2 costez du col ou il n'y a point de 
plume. 

14. Estant cabannez proche le portage a 2 lieues dans la riviere 
nous resolusmes d'hyverner la, estant dans l'impossibilite de passer 
outre, estant trop embarasse, et mon incommodite ne me permettant 
pas de beaucoup fatiguer. Plusieurs Ilinois passerent hier pour aller 
porter leur pelleterie a Na8asking8e, ausquels on donne un boeufs et 
un chevreux que Jacque avoit tue le iour auparavant ie ne pense pas 
avoir veu de sauvage plus affame de petun Francois qu'eux, ils vin- 
rent ietter a nos pieds des castors pour en avoir quelque bout mais 
nour leur rendismes en leur en donnant quelque pipe, parceque nous 
n'avions pas encore conclu si nous passerions outre. 

15. Chachag8essi8 et les autres Ilinois nous quitterent pour aller 
trouver leur gens, et leur donner les marchandises qu'ils avoient ap- 
portez pour avoir leur robbes en quoy ils se gouvernent comme des 
traitteurs et ne donnent guere plus que les Francois; ie les instruisis 
avant leur depart, remettant au printemps de tenir conseil quand ie 
serois au village; ils nous traitterent 3 belles robbes de boeuf pour 
une coudee de petun, lesquelles, nous ont beaucoup servi cet hyver, 
estant ainsi desbarassez, nous dismes la Messe de la Conception; 
depuis le 14 mon incommodite se tourna en flux de sang. 

30. Jacque arriva du village des Ilinois qui n'estoit qu'a six lieues 
d'icy ou ils avoient faim le froid et la neige les empeschant de chas- 
ser, quelques uns ayant adverti la Toupine et le chirurgien que nous 
estions icy et ne pouvant quitter leur cabanne avoient tellement don- 
nez la peur aux sauvages croyant que nous aurions faim demeurant 
icy que Jacque eust bien de la peine d'empescher 15 jeunes gens de 
venir pour emporter toute nostie affaire. 

Janvier 16, 1675. Aussitot que les 2 franqois sceurent que mon 
mal mempeschoit daller chez eux le chirurgien vint icy avec un sau- 
vage pour nous apporter des bluets et du bled; ils ne sont que 18 
lieues d'icy dans un beau lieu de chasse, pour les boeufs et les chev- 
reux et les cocqs d'inde qui y sont excellents, ills avoient aussi amas- 
sez des vivres en nous attendant; et avoient fait entendre aux sau- 
vages que leur cabanne estoit a la Robbe noire, et on peut dire qu'ils 
ont fait et dit tout ce qu'on peut attendre d'eux: le chirurgien ayant 
icy seiourne pour faire ses devotions: j'envoiay Jacque avec luy pour 
dire aux Ilinois qui estoient proche de la, que mon incommodite 
m'empeschoit de les aller voir et que iaurois mesme de la peine d'yaller 
le printemps si elle continuoit. 

24. Jacque retourna, avec un sac de bled et d'autres rafraichisse- 
ment que les Frangois luy avoient donnez pour moy : il apporta aussi 
les langues et de la viande de deux boeufs qu'un sauvage et luy avoient 
tuez proche d'icy; mais toutes les bestes se sentent de mauvais temps. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 263 



26. 3 Ilinois nous apporterent de la part des Anciens 2 sacs de 
bled, de la viande seche, des citrouilles et 12 castors, i°, pour me 
faire une natte, 2 0 , pour me demander de la poudre, 3 0 , pour que nous 
n'eussions fair*, 4 0 , pour avoir quelque peu de marchandises ; ie leur 
repondis i nt , que i'estois venu pour les instruire, en leur parlant de la 
priere, &c. 2 nt , que ie ne leur donnerois point de poudre, puisque 
nous taschions de mettre partout la paix, et que ie ne voulois qu'ils 
commencassent la guerre avec les Miamis. 3 nt , que nous n'appre- 
hendions point le faim. 4 nt , que iencouragerois les francpis a leur 
apporter des marchandises, et qu'il falloit qu'ils satisfissent ceux qui 
estoient chez eux pour la rassade qu'on leur avoit pris, dez que le 
chirurgien fust party pour venir icy. Comme ils estoient venus de 
20 lieiis, pour les payer de leur peine et de ce qu'ils m'avoient ap- 
portez ie leur donnay une hache, 2 couteaux, 3 iambettes, 10 brasses 
de rassade et 2 mirouirs doubles, et leur disant qui ie tascherois d'al- 
ler au village seulement pour quelques iours si mon incommodite 
continuoit, ils me dirent de prendre courage de demeurer et de mourir 
daus leur pays et qu'on leur avoit dit que i'y resterois pour longtemps. 

Fevrier 9. Depuis que nous nous sommes addressez a la Ste. 
Vierge Immaculee que nous avons commencez une neufvaine par 
une messe a laquelle Pierre et Jacque qui font tout ce qu'ils peu- 
vent pour me soulager, ont communies pour demander a Dieu la 
sante, mon flux de sang m'a quitte, il ne me reste qu'un foiblesse d'es- 
tomac, ie commence a meporter beaucoup mieux et a reprendre mes 
forces : il ne cabanne d'llinois qui s'estoit rangee proche de nous depuis 
un mois une partie out repris le chemin des P8t et quelques uns sont 
encore au bord du lac ou ils attendent que la navigation soit libre, ils 
emportent des lettres pour nos P. P. de St Francois. 

20. Nous avons eu le temps de remarquer les mareez qui vien- 
nent du lac lesquels haussent et baissent plusieurs fois par iour et 
quoyqu'il n'y paraisse aucune abry dans le lac, on a veu les glaces 
aller contre le vent, ces mareez nous rendoient l'eau bonne ou mau- 
vaisse parceque celle qui vient d'en hault coule des prairies et de 
petits ruisseaux, lestchevreux qui sont enquantite vers le bord du lac 
sont si maigres qu'on a este contraint d'en laisser quelques uns de 
ce qu'on avoit tuez. 

Mars 23. On tue plusieurs perdrix dont il n'y a que les mals qui 
ayant des aislerons au col, les femelles u'en ayant point, ces perdrix 
sont assez bonnes mais non pas comme celle de France. 

30. Le vent de nord ayant empesche le degeal jusques au 25 de 
Mars il commenca par un vent de sud, dez le lendemain le gibier 
commenca de paroistre, on tua 30 tourtres que ie trouvay meilleures 
que celles de la bas, mais plus petites, tant les vieilles que les 
ieunes ; le 28 les glaces se rompirent et s'arresterent au dessus de 
nous, le 29 les eaux crurent si fort que nous n'eusmes que le temps 
de descabanner au plutot, mettre nos affaires sur des arbres et tascher 



23 



264 NARRATIVE OF FATHER MARQUETTE. 



de chercher a coucher sur quelque but l'eau nous gagnant presque 
toute la nuit, mais ayant un peu gele et estant diminue comme nous 
estions aupres de nos paquets, la digue vient de se rompre et les glaces 
a s'escouler et parceque les eaux remontent desia nous allons nous 
embarquer pour continuer notre route. 

La Ste. Vierge Immaculee a pris un tel soin de nous durant notre 
hyvernement que rien ne nous a mauque pour les vivres, ayant en- 
core un grand sac de bled de reste, de la viande et de la graisse; nous 
avons aussi vescu fort doucement, mon mal ne m'ayant point empesche 
de dire la Ste Messe tous les iours; nous n' avons point pu garder du 
caresme que les Vendredys et samedys. 

31. Estant hier party nous fismes 3 lieues dans la riviere en re- 
montant sans trouver aucun portage, on traisna peut estre environ 
un demy arpant outre cette descharge, la riviere en a une autre par 
ou nous debvons descendre. II n'y a que les terres bien hautes qui 
ne soient point inondeez, celle ou nous sommes a cru plus de 12 pieds 
a-ce fut d'icy que nous commengasmes notre portage ily a 18 mois; 
les outardes et les canards passent continuellement ; on s'est contente 
de 7, les glaces qui derivent encore nous font icy demeureur ne sachant 
pas en quel estat est le bas de la riviere. 

Avril 1. Comme ie ne scais point encore si ie demeureray cet 
este au village ou non a cause de mon flux de ventre, nous laissons 
icy une partie de ce dont nous pouvons nous passer et surtout un sac 
de bled, tandis qu'un grand vent de sud nous arreste, nous esperons 
aller demain ou sont les Frangois, distant de 15 lieues d'icy. 

6. Les grands vents et le froid nous empeschent de marcher. Les 
deux lacs par ou nous avons passez sont plains d'outardes, d'oyes, de 
canards, de grues et d'autres gibiers que nous ne connoissons point. 
Les rapides sont assez dangereux en quelques endroits, nous venons 
de rencontrer le chirurgien avec un sauvage qui montoit aves une 
canottee de pelleterie, mais le froid estant trop grand pour des per- 
sonnes qui sont obligez de traisner les canots dans l'eau, il vient de 
faire cache de son castor et retourne demain au village avec nous. 
Si les Frangois ont des robbes de ce pays icy, ils ne les desrobbent 
pas tant les fatigues sont grands pour les en tirer. 



LA SALLE'S PATENT OF NOBILITY. 



(Paris Doc. in Secy's. Office, Albany, vol. ii. pp. 8-n,) 

Donnees a Compeigne le 13 May, 1675. 
Louis, par la grace de Dieu Roy de France et de Navarre, a tous 
presents et a venir salut. Les Roys nos predecesseurs ayant tou- 
jours estime que l'honneur etait le plus puissant motif pour porter 
leurs sujets aux genereuses actions, ils ont pris soin de reconnaitre 
par des marques d'honneur ceux qu'une vertu extraordinaire en avait 
rendu dignes, et comme nous sommes informes des bonnes actions que 
font journellement les peuples de Canada, soit en reduisant ou dis- 
ciplinant les sauvages, soit en se defendant contre leurs frequentes 
insultes, et celles de Iroquois et enfin en meprisant les plus grands 
perils pour etendre jusques au bout de ce nouveau monde, nostre nom 
et nostre empire, nous avons estime qu'il estait de nostre justice de 
distinguer par des recompences d'honneur ceux qui se sont le plus 
signalez pour exciter les autres a meriter de semblables graces, a ces 
causes, desirant traiter favorablement nostre cher et bien aime Robert 
Cavelier sieur de la Salle pour le bon et louable rapport qui nous a ete 
fait des bonnes actions qu'il a faite dans le pays de Canada au il s'est 
estably depuis quelques annees et pour autres considerations a ce nous 
mouvans, et de notre grace speciale, pleine puissance, et autorite royale, 
nous avons annobly, et par ces, presentes signees de nostre main anno- 
blissons, et decorons du titre et qualite de noblesse le d. Sr. Cavalier, 
ensemble sa femme et enfans posterite et lignee tant males que femelles 
nes et a naitre en loyal mariage ; Vpulons et nous plait qu'en tous actes 
tant en jugement que dehors ils soient tenus, censes et reputes nobles 
portant la qualite d'escuyer, et puissant parvenir a tous degres de chev- 
allerie et de gendarmerie, acquerir, tenir, et posseder toutes sortes de 
fiefs et seigneuries et heritages nobles de quelque titre et qualite qu'ils 
soient, et qu'ils jouissent de tous honneurs, autorites, prerogatives, pre- 
eminences, privileges, franchises, exemptions et immunites, dont jouis- 
sent et ont accoutume de jouir et user les autres nobles de nostre 
Royaume et de porter telles armes qu'elles sont cy empraintes, sans ce 
que pour ce le dit Robert Cavelier soit tenu nous payer, ny a nos succes- 



266 



LA SALLE'S PATENT OF NOBILITY 



seurs Roys, aucune finance ni indemnite, dont a quelque somme qu'elles 
se puissent monter, nous l'avons decharge, et dechargeons et lui avons 
fait et faisons don par cesdites presentes, le tout par les causes et 
raisons portees en l'arrest de notre concil de cejourdhui donne nous y 
etant dont copie demeurera cy attachee sous le contreseil de nostre 
chancellerie. Si donnouns en mandement a nos aimes et feaux con ers 
les gens tenants nostre cour de parlement de Paris, chambre des 
comptes, cour des aydes au dit lieu que ces presentes lettres d' anno- 
blissement ils ayent a registrer, et du contenu en icelles faire souffrir 
et laisser jouir et user le dit Robert Cavelier, ses Enifans et 
posterite nes et a naitre en loyal manage, pleinement, paisiblement et 
perpetuellement, cessant et faisant cesser tous troubles et empeschemens 
nonobstant tous Edits et declarations, arrests, reglemens, et autres choses 
a ce contraries, aux quels nous avons deroge et derogons par ces pres- 
ente car tel est notre plaisir. Et afin que ce soit chose ferme stable et 
a toujours, nous y avons fait mettre nostre seel. Donne a compeigne 
le 13 May, l'an de grace mil six cens soixante quinze, et de nostre 
regne le trentetroisieme. 




LA SALLE'S PATENT OF NOBILITY 



267 



LA SALLE'S SECOND COMMISSION. 

(Same vol., p. 275.) 

A Versailles, le 14 Avril, 1684. 
Louis, par la grace de Dieu Roy de France et de Nauarre, Salut. 
Ayant resolu de faire quelques entreprises dans l'Amerique Septen- 
trionale pour assujetir sons nostre domination plusiers nations sau- 
vages, et leur porter les lumieres de la foy et de l'evangile, nous avons 
cru que nous ne pouvions faire un meilleur choix que du sieur de la 
Salle, pour commander en nostre nom tous les Francais et sauvages 
qu'il employera pour l'execution des ordres dont nous l'avons charge. 
A ces causes, et autres a ce nous mouvans, et etant d'ailleurs bien 
informez de son affection et de sa fidelite a nostre service, Nous avons 
le d. Sr. de la Salle commis et ordonne, commettons et ordonnons par 
ces presentes signees de nostre main, pour sous nostre autorite com- 
mander tant dans les pays qui seront assujettis de nouveau sous nostre 
domination dans l'Amerique Septentrionale, depuis le fort St. Louis 
sur la Riviere des Illinois jusques a la Nouvelle Biscaye, qu'aux 
Francois et sauvages qu'il employera dans les entreprises dont nous 
l'avons charge, les faire vivre en union et Concorde les uns avec les 
autres, contenir les gens de guerre en bon ordre et police, suivant nos 
Reglement, etablir des Gouverneurs et commandans pare" dans les 
lieux qu'il jugera a propos, jusques a cesqu' autrement par nous en ait 
ete ordonne, maintenir le commerce et traffic, generalement faire et 
exercer tout ce qui pourra etre du fait de commandant pour nous esd. 
pays, et en jouir aux pouvoirs, honneurs, autorites, libertes, prerogatives 
preeminences, franchises, libertes, gages, droits, finites, promts, rev- 
enues, et emolumens, tant qu'il nous plaira. 

De ce faire vous avons donne et donnons pouvoir par ces d. pre- 
sentes par lesquelles mandons a tous nos d. sujets et gens de guerre 
de vous reconnoistre, obeir, et entendre en choses concernant le pre- 
sent pouvoir. Car tel est nostre plaisir. 

En temoin dequoi nous avons fait mettre nostre see! secret a ces 
d. presentes. Donnees a Versailles, le 14 Avril, 1684. 



COMPARATIVE TABLE 



Of the Names on the Map published by Thevenot, as Mar- 
quette's and on his Real Map annexed. 



Thevenot. 


Marquette. 


\j o nui r (JTjrl. 


Mouingwena 


Moingwena 


Moingonan 


Pe-wanea 


Pe-warea 


Pe-oria 


Tillini-wek 


Ilinois 


miiinweK ana Illinois 


Missi-ousing 


Miscousing 


Wisconsin 


Cach-ouach-wia 


Kachkaskia 


Kaskaskia 


Manoutensac 


Maskoutens 




Kamissi 


Kanza 




Autrechaha 


Ouchage 


Osage 


Ou-missouri 


We-messouret 


IvTl CCA11T1 

ivii&buuri 


Ahiahichi 


Aiaichi 


A vi/*Vi 


Tamisa 


Tanik-wa 


Tonica 


Matoua 


Matora 




Ototchassi 


Atotchasi 


Southouis 


Monsouperea 


Monsoupelea 




Wabouquigou 


Wabous-quigou 


Wabash 


Kakinouba 


Kakinonba 


? Kanawha 


The following 


names are on Marquette alone 




Pahoutet 






Maha 




Omaha 


Pana 






Otontanta 


Anthoutanta (Le Clercq) 


Akoroa 


Koroa 




Papikaha 




PQuapaw 



Apistonga 

Maroa . Tamaroa 

The following are on Thevenot alone: — 
Kithigami, Minonk, Aganahali, Wabunghiharea, Taharea. 

It will be observed that on the real map the part of Michigan then 
unexplored, is dotted only, and that the Mississippi descends only 
to Akansea, the limit of his discovery. 



THE END. 




FLDK1DE 



o 



